Twisted Faith
by squarecreatures
Summary: What if Stefan managed to save Elena's parents at Wickory bridge? With Matt still in the picture will Elena be able to ignore her feelings for Stefan? What will their relationship be like when Elena hasn't suffered from her parents loss, will it blossom, or shrivel when she learns the truth about his nature? Multi chapter fic
1. Chapter 1

**Please leave your reviews, I'm enjoying writing this story so far, any input or suggestions are always amazing.**

**Ill try to update this fic regularly, 'Coming Home' has currently come to a stand still until I figure out what I'm going to do with it. So i promise this fic will be more regular, enjoy :D**

Elena paced the carpark, scattering small pebbles around the road with her toes. She could still hear off in the distance the crowds of teenagers shouting and laughing over music coming from trucks that some of the older seniors had inherited from their parents. The smell of smoke from the bonfire was still reeking from her clothes, and the musk of Matt's cologne still lingered on her hair.

She checked her phone again, hoping maybe Aunt Jenna would send her a reassuring message that her father was not freaking out over the fact that she had been drinking in the woods and lied about it. Instead a call from Matt patched through again and she declined as she heard the sounds of her parents car approach the parking lot.

"Elena honey" her moms reassuring voice called from the small distance between them, and she smiled knowing her mother would try to mediate the conversation she would be having with her father in a few seconds.

After shutting the door and adjusting her seatbelt the silence between the three of them was deafening and uncomfortable.

"Dad" she started but he quickly interrupted

"Elena, what were you thinking huh?" his voice raised and concerned, she had never lied to him before, but ever since her relationship with Matt, Grayson had become more aware of her growing up. Being 17 didn't mean that she could drink let alone stay out all night with her boyfriend.

"Elena you can't lie to us like that what if something happened to you and we couldn't find you?" Elena nodded, knowing this conversation was far from over. Greyson continued to preach his disappointment in her, missing family night as well as lying about where she was going was something that needed to be nipped in the bud.

"Grayson" Miranda interrupted, but he continued, looking in the rear view mirror so he could see Elena.

"You are grounded for a month and I mean it" he continued

"But dad the dance is-"

"No" he insisted again, but Elena knew she more than deserved it, perhaps when matt found out he would break up with her, that would make things so much easier. She didn't know how to do it for herself.

"And you're to come straight home after school"

"Grayson!" Miranda warned again, her voice becoming anxious as grayson stepped on the gas and sped through the old windy roads outside mystic falls.

"Caroline Forbes can find someone else to help with-"

"GREYSON" Miranda screamed and his concentration returned to the road, the car coming dangerously close to the bend near Wickery bridge.

"Shit" Grayson hissed under his breath as he tried to correct the turn but the car was losing control fast, he had just made the bend by the skin of his teeth, hitting the chippings near the side of the road, the car began to fish tail uncontrollably near the bridge where the wet wood edges were fatal to cars. The car was now swinging violently from side to side.

"DAD!" Elena screamed, Miranda's grasp tightening on the dashboard, the most horrible screeching sound of wood and rubber from the friction of the wheels deafened them all as the car started to verge off the bridge.

Miranda screamed in horror and Elena braced herself for what looked like the inevitable, coming off the bridge like so many others had before. But suddenly something collided with the car, a tall figure that seemed to leap in front infront of the unguarded bridge colliding like a wall, and it caused the car to flip, tumble and roll over , landing on the bonnet, grinding for a few seconds before coming to a halting stop.

* * *

Stefan's body lay in a heap of broken glass and bent metal that had hit his body with force. His consciousness returning, he rubbed his head trying to remember what had happened. In the distance, blood, he could smell it, so pungent and fresh, it was close, he turned his head to see one of his gashes was healing slowly. He snapped his leg back into place and lifted himself to the ground and limped to the smoking car that was meters away.

"Heeelp, help us" he could hear a man's voice coming from the driver side. As Stefan approached, he could see Miranda unconscious in the passenger seat, and he reached to free the door for the man that was trapped.

"No, no I'm fine, my daughter first, please" he begged, and Stefan nodded pulling the back door roughly off its hinges making sure the broken glass flew away with it, and then he saw her.

"Katherine?" he gasped, his feet planted and motionless he stared at her, she looked exactly like her, it must have been her. But how?

Elena's eye's fluttered open, she strained to see who was standing in front of her.

"Dad" she tried with a croaky voice and a weak neck that restricted her from moving further than where she was hanging, her seat belt trapping her in her seat as she winced in pain.

"it's okay sweetie, that man will help you, hold on" Grayson replied trying to extend his hand to her's.

Stefan hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do but when he bent down and reached for her face, he could feel the warm blood trickling on to his fingers, making him thirst and then he knew. Human. It was ridiculous, it looked exactly like her.

"Don't move, it's okay" he said softly, still mesmerized by her beauty , his skin tingled from her his contact with her face on his finger tips. Elena tried to register but she was falling in and out of consciousness quickly, he snapped the belt off and held her head in his hands, before biting his wrist and feeding her his blood.

"Drink" he said softly, and the cool, salty blood ran down her throat soothing her of the pain in her lower back and neck, before he lifted her out of the wreck and placed her on the grass. She panicked, on seeing the wreck and her parents still trapped "oh god" she whimpered as his hands left her body.

"Shhh, close your eyes" he asked her quietly, she looked up in his eyes, for the first time, green beautiful pools stared back, reassuring and trusting all at once, she calmed and lay her head, fading away slowly into slumber.

* * *

Elena woke slowly; bright beams of light pierced her eyes as she tried to open them slowly. Her body felt stiff, like she had been sleeping for a week. She sighed rubbing her eyes; something was on her finger, as she tried to fix her hair from her face.

"What" she whispered, her voice hoarse from something, she didn't know. A heart monitor, what the hell? She looked around the room, and saw her father asleep in the chair, it was a hospital room. Oh my god. It all came back to her, the bonfire, the crash, the man who saved her.

"Dad!" she cried, and he woke suddenly, his eyes too trying to adjust to the sunlight that beamed into the room.

"Honey" he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Where's mom?" she cried fearing the worst.

"Shhh she's absolutely fine, she's next door, just a few bumps and bruises" he sighed deeply into her hair.

"Were all okay honey" he rocked her until her breathing settled, the shock leaving her body.

"That boy...he...who was he?" Grayson lifted her chin with his fingers.

"We were very lucky honey, that man pulled us from the wreck"

"oh my god" Elena could remember him, his green eyes, his face staring deeply into her's as she lay on the grass beside the creek, his wrist moving to her mouth as she sucked on his skin. A shiver went down her spine, did that really happen? Or id she dream it when they drugged her up in the emergency room.

"I want to see mom"

"No no sweetie" Grayson answered rubbing her back

"You rest, mom will be up soon and we can all go home" she nodded, still unsettled about some of the memories in her mind.

"Who was the boy?"

"Stefan Salvatore, he was walking near the creek and heard the crash, he really is a hero." Grayson stated as he left her bed.

"He promised he would come to visit when we made it home, I think your mother wants to have him for dinner" Elena smiled as Grayson left the room. Those green eyes, that olive skin, those strong arms. She tried to let them drift out of her mind but she couldn't.

* * *

A few hours later, Elena was flicking through the channels on the TV

"Oh my god Elena" matt walked in coming to the side of her bed and hugging her closely

"I'm fine matt" she smiled at his concern, feeling like she needed to reassure him, she took his hand and kissed him on the cheek.

"God if anything had happened to you I don't know what I would have done" he was nearly in tears, and Elena squeezed his hand again.

"Im fine Matty, I'm a tough cookie" she joked and he smiled.

"I'm so sorry about the bonfire Elena, I shouldn't have pushed you into making any decisions about senior year, I was just drinking and Tyler was wailing on me-"

"It's ok" she confirmed, slightly relieved that he had apologised, but still feeling awkwardly distant from him, as she had been recently. Maybe they could start fresh after the crash, maybe he wouldn't pressure her into the future, and maybe she could learn to love him. She loved his company, trusted him, not to mention he was cute and a catch, most of the girls swooned over him, but lately there was something missing. Maybe in light of what happened last night, things would change for her, she should cease the day. Live in the moment.

"I love you" he whispered before leaning in and kissing her on the lips, he lingered for a few moments. Elena reciprocated, but, nothing, nada, zip. That familiar frustration coursed through her once again and she wanted him to leave instantly, she felt smothered and trapped without even knowing why. When he pulled away, he smiled and she knew for a fact that he had enjoyed the kiss on a whole other level than she had, guilt overpowered her.

"Call me when you get home? I have to get to school, everyone's so worried about you" he tilted his head to try and catch her eyes that had inadvertently moved to the bed linen at her knee's.

"Will do" she replied with fake enthusiasm.

Matt left blowing her a kiss before turning the corner at the door. What was wrong with her, Matt was perfect, what was stopping her from loving him?

* * *

Elena stepped out of the shower and examined her body, not a scratch or a bruise anywhere. It was very peculiar, she remembered her head hurting, and she remembered seeing blood. Could it have been possible that it was her mother's blood, she had a number of bruises around her shoulders and cuts near her head. How had she gotten so lucky? It seemed from the way of the collision that her side of the car had stuck the object first by the bridge first, taking the brunt of the impact...how had she escaped that with not even one scratch?

Although the memory of the crash had traumatized her, she couldn't shrug the thought of the man who had helped her from the wreck, his voice, his arms and then...his wrist in her mouth, it was absurd. She threw her pyjamas on and dried her hair, feeling relaxed now that she was at home.

"Elena" she could hear her mom from downstairs.

"Coming" she replied as she threw on her dressing gown and made her way down the stairs.

"Hello Elena" she looked down and saw him, the man from the bridge that pulled her to safety.

"Hi" her voice broke, she simply couldn't take him all in at once, his broad shoulders and taught chest under a navy v neck, his arms were behind his back, standing tall beside her father who had his hand on his shoulder. His sandy hair was rustled, but perfectly sculpted around his face, those eyes, they pierced her again, he wasn't looking away, oh god!

She hadn't noticed she was still walking down the stairs until she realized there were no more steps left to go down and she clumsily tripped forward.

"I'm Stefan Salvatore" he held his hand out to her, as she regained her balance and tried to shake off the embarrassment with a small giggle.

"Hi I'm Elena" when their hands touched, they stared again, locked together and he smiled. A perfect smile showing all his teeth and squinting his eyes, she giggled again. Seriously what was wrong with her, her parents were right there, how embarrassing.

"Ahem" Grayson interrupted their handshake that had lasted at least 30 seconds at this stage, Stefan tore his eyes from Elena's and followed Grayson to the kitchen.

"Stefan do you want to stay for dinner" Miranda asked.

"No, I better not, my uncle is expecting me" he smiled

"But thank you, i was just calling in to make sure you all made it in safely"

"Well Stefan, we cant thank you enough for what you did, I hope you will come for dinner with us so we can thank you properly for your help"

Elena had followed them into the kitchen, still watching him, his neck, jaw line, his back, what was it about him?

"Yes that would be lovely" he turned to face Elena and she blushed, averting her eyes.

"I better go home, I have my first day tomorrow in mystic falls high"

"Ah first day?" Miranda asked, and Stefan bowed his head.

"Well maybe Elena could show you around Stefan?" She turned to Elena, who was still red from his eyes on her a few moments ago. Miranda could read her daughter like a book, Elena was quiet but not that quiet, and Stefan was more than a sight for sore eyes.

"Sure, I can meet you at the lot before school, say 8:45?" Elena replied, trying to sound cool and not too enthused.

"Perfect" he smiled, his brows still furrowed though, he seemed deep in thought, did he not want her to show him around? Maybe he knew about Matt?

"Great" Grayson walked Stefan to the door and Miranda raised her eyebrows at Elena in an appraising fashion, Elena was more than embarrassed. What was worse, the fact that the hunk who just saved her life had seen her in her pink robe with the little sheep on them, or the fact that her parents were there to witness her go all timid and shy in front of a boy.

**What did you think? I hope Elena is in character, but i think she will have a bit more spunk in this fic, I have the second chapter written, that will be up tomorrow :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry guy's i know i said i would update on Saturday, I ended up working all weekend and never got to my computer.**

**So I will be updating chapter 3 tomorrow, I think you will be pleasantly surprised! Thankyou for the reviews, im loving the interest in the story. Epecially from Sparkley Angel: yes, I will swing that in some way, I want elena's parents (especially grayson) to be aware of Stefans nature at some point, they will play a huge role in this fic.**

** ICURAQT2: yes i love the possibilities i can have with Elena dealing with her parent's and Stefan and Elena's growing passion, that will be fun ;) thanks for editing tip, didn't even realize :D oh god haha!**

* * *

Elena sat on one of the benches near the lot, she had woken up surprisingly early this morning, maybe she had overslept the day before she thought. Was there such thing as too much sleep? She scribbled in her diary, not know exactly what to say, how to describe the last few days, she didn't want to write about the crash, that was something she would much rather forget. Instead she wrote about what she remembered, or what she thinks she remembered. Stefan's wrist at her mouth, his cool blood trickling down her throat, she couldn't remember the taste, she could only remember how it felt, and it felt good, euphoric. Why?

People started arriving and parking their cars, her phone vibrated, a text from Matt.

"Hey babe, you never called?" she sighed and threw the phone back in her bag, is it normal to feel this suffocated by your boyfriend she wondered, probably not, but she couldn't make a decision, especially one that would mean losing someone she held so close for so many years. He would hate her after it.

Suddenly she caught something in her peripheral, it was him, Stefan was walking towards her, and he was wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses, blue faded jeans that fit him like a model. Had he walked all the way from the boarding house? She knew where it was and it was far, not something walk able in less than two hours. She could see all the students in the car park turning their gazes to the new figure walking past them. And why wouldn't they she thought, he was gorgeous, she couldn't stop looking at him, that had never really happened to her before.

"Good morning Elena" he slipped his shades off and smiled at her, she was honestly lost for words, she had more than two minutes to think of what to say before he made it in front of her and somehow she had managed to screw that up. His hair was still damp and rustled, from a shower maybe, he ran his fingers through it, oh god, she wanted to do the same, running her fingers through his hair, god she needed to stop thinking about things like that around him, and save those thoughts for somewhere where she could wear her goofy smile in private.

Still a minute or two must have passed as silence surrounded them both and their eye's connected, but it didn't seem to matter, he was staring too, in just the same way, it made her stomach flip, such intensity in those eyes, but at the same time, he looked very...lost. Lost.

"Eh ahem" she cleared her throat and flew back to earth, "Sorry...did you walk from the boarding house?" she asked, slightly curious and needing to veer her thoughts into any other direction.

"Ehh no...My uncle dropped me to the corner" of course, he lives with his uncle.

"oh yeah sorry" she hopped off the bench and slipped her journal into her bag, she could feel him watching her, his body moving as she did, observing her closely, but still with a very distant proximity that made her shutter, so primal and protective. He seemed to smile when he caught a glimpse of her journal. Was he taunting me? Having a diary was so juvenile she thought, god he must think I'm a freshman.

"So when did you move here Stefan?"

"Just this week" he answered vaguely, she didn't expect such a short answer. Was he trying to be mysterious?

"With your parents?" she enquired again

"No..They passed on a long time ago"

"I'm really sorry" her voice was soft, she really felt like he was still carrying that around with him in the way he said it. She wanted to help him somehow, she felt oddly drawn to him, wanted to ease the pain that she could feel from every way he moved around her.

Elena tried to concentrate on where she was walking, feeling oddly shaky after their intense gaze, she watched her feet as one moved in front of the other. But still she couldn't shake the feeling that his gaze was still fixed on her from behind, her back tensed and her stomach quivered with an unrecognizable desire.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked after a few moments.

Elena was glad she could speak again, anything to take the image of him watching her out of her mind.

"Yeah, I mean I'm okay, I still feel incredibly guilty for going out without telling my parents where I was actually going." She took a breath, realizing she needed it "And I caused the crash really, so I don't know I feel sort of" she frowned as she searched for the words.

"...inadequate" she whispered. Elena hung her head, slightly ashamed for revealing herself, how she felt, how selfish she must seem to him. How selfish she felt herself, putting her family in danger.

Stefan nodded, and just there, that was all she needed, a nod, she didn't need anyone to tell her it wasn't her fault, or it could happen to the best of us, she just wanted to say it and let herself deal with it. No one else could unburden her of her own guilt. Why couldn't anyone else do that? Why couldn't anyone else understand that?

"We all make mistakes Elena" he turned to look at her again, she didn't know if he was speaking about himself or about her, his expression was unreadable. But those eye's that pierced her so often, she didn't know what to do with it, was there anything to do with this feeling? How to react to him?

"Yeah" she smiled awkwardly at him, this rope that was reeling her in towards Stefan was getting to be increasingly difficult to restrain. They continued walking through the doors and up to the crowded hallways.

"I can show you where to get your schedule Stefan let me just put my books away" she began to unlock her locker.

"Hey babe" Matt crept up behind her and stole a kiss, Elena jumped in surprise, going red immediately. And that expression that she could see on Stefan's face made her uncomfortable, Matt's arm was wrapped around her and he leaned against her so protectively. There was nothing she could do.

What would she do if Stefan decided not to speak to her because of Matt. _If he doesn't want to talk to you because you have a boyfriend, then he's not worth it_. Her subconscious tried to reason with her, anything to take away the thumping pain building in her stomach, but she cared, she cared so much about him it was scary.

"Hey man, I'm matt" he introduced himself.

"Stefan" they shook hands awkwardly as Matt began to put two and two together.

"Wait...You're the guy that saved Elena, wow man!" he hugged Stefan unexpectedly, Stefan guffed at the gesture, he was surprised. Elena stood watching as they awkwardly bonded over her.

"Thank you so much"

"It's nothing" Stefan shrugged, looking at Elena, who seemed to have hung her head into her locker, collecting her books; Elena couldn't stop the frown from appearing. She could feel the distance between her and Stefan grow wider the second since Matt arrived.

"Right place right time" Stefan confirmed as he watched matt trying to read Elena with a worried expression.

"Listen I better go to the office to get my schedule, thank you for your help Elena" Elena turned quickly and smiled hoping he wouldn't go, but he was gone in an instant, leaving her no time to reply or do anything.

"What's his problem?" matt asked, noting her expression as she watched him leave.

"I don't know"

* * *

"OH MY GOD ELENA!" Caroline jumped on her, wrapping her arms and screeching in her ear.

"God I heard about the crash, what happened are you ok?" Bonnie was approaching down the corridor outside history class.

"Yeah I'm fine" she hesitated, another flash of the accident returning to her memory, and she instantly felt ill. Miranda screaming, the screech of the tyres on wood and Stefan's wrist. Stefan in general. _Oh god._

"Elena, thank god your ok" Elena was relieved bonnie had arrived at this stage, sometimes Caroline was too much to take all at once.

"Yeah bonnie, I'm fine not a scratch" she giggled, so happy to see her, it had been a week after all, she leaned in for a hug and whispered, " I'll tell you the details later" and released her from the hug. The details being, Stefan!

They entered the class, setting their books down; Mr. Tanner entered and immediately started quizzing people on the Second World War. Elena rolled her eyes to bonnie who was sitting next to her and mouthed dick , they both giggled. She was starting to feel like herself again, being able to have a laugh again made her feel good, feel normal.

"Mrs Gilbert!" he shouted in an amused tone, only too pleased to have caught her off guard to ask her a question.

"When was pearl harbour hit and what were the motives for the Japanese to attack?" Elena was at a blank, she hadn't studied for this, and she had been in hospital, how completely and utterly unfair.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Stefan entered, all the heads in the classroom turned and whispered. But Stefan was not one bit fazed, he continued to a free seat and set his bag down, he didn't look at her, didn't acknowledge her. Did it really matter anyway? _Yes_...

Elena turned her head back to Mr. Tanner who was still grinning and awaiting an answer that she didn't have.

"I...I don't know" and almost instantly he laughed and smugly paced up to the blackboard, preaching about perl harbour and scribbling notes with a stubby piece of chalk that was nearly completely unreadable.

"pssst" she could hear from her left. Caroline threw her a crumpled up note.

'Who is Mr. Hottie?' Elena frowned, knowing Caroline was going to do whatever it took to get Stefan to be her winning prize for the year, heck she managed it with everyone else, why not him? Why was she feeling so uneasy about it though? She barely knew Stefan, she didn't have a right to be possessive.

She scribbled a message on the paper and threw it back to Caroline.

'Stefan Salvatore'

And swiftly another shard of paper returned to her desk.

'He's mine!'

Elena tore the paper slowly and turned her head to look at Stefan, he was leaning on his elbows, head slightly tilted and brows furrowed deep in thought, swivelling a pen between his fingers, she lost herself there for a second. Watching him, it mesmerized her. Her gazed moved from his arms, to his eye's and to his lips. _Oh god_. She shouldn't look there, too many feelings gushed through her when she could stare there. Suddenly Bonnie's hand moved frantically in front of her to wave her out of her trance and they both laughed. Bonnie shook her head as she smirked at Elena, had it been that obvious? What had gotten into her?

* * *

"So...?" Caroline asked, setting her tray on the table of the cafeteria, joining Bonnie, Elena and Matt.

"Were all going to Tyler's tonight right?" she said excitedly.

"I don't know Car" Elena replied, remembering the last time she went out to a social gathering and the implications it brought on everyone.

"Come on Elena, I know you're like totally blah after the bon fire, but you can't hide forever, it won't happen again...and you can say you're staying at mine" she winked at Elena, making it completely obvious to Matt what she was thinking and planning for the two of them. Elena slung her head down to her food and pouted.

Matt slung his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"What do you think babe?" he smiled at her, Elena felt awkward; maybe she should just get it over with she thought. Maybe she should let this happen between her and Matt, what was she waiting for?

"Stefan's going too" Caroline said with accomplishment, Elena's eyes lit up.

"Really?" he didn't seem like the type of guy that would be interested in parties, he seemed reserved, timid, and far too mature to get drunk with Tyler Lockwood and the football team.

"Come on babe" Matt encouraged, Elena looked over at bonnie who sent her a worried look, she knew her too well, Elena didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse. But bonnie was the only one that understood sometimes, especially when it came to matt.

"Sure" she tried to sound excited. The only thing she was excited about was seeing Stefan again.

* * *

**I love writing these two and their chemistry, more tomorrow.**


	3. Chapter 3

"So what did your dad say about tonight" Elena was fidgeting with her handbag and looking out the window of Bonnie's car.

"Well my mom sort of convinced him, but I have to be home at 1am so...I'm gonna make the most of it" she smiled looking over at bonnie, who looked amazing tonight.

"Good" they giggled.

"You look dashing bonnie bennet!" bonnie smiled and swung her shoulder's up and down comically, showing off her strapless dress.

"Thanks, but driving in stilettos is a bitch!"

"So how are you feeling after...near death rollercoaster experience" she tried to put a nice swing on it but automatically saw Elena's face change once she said it.

"To be honest I still feel pretty shaken up" she turned her head to look out the window again.

"And...Stefan...he saved me"

"Yeah talk about weird coincidence" bonnie slowed at a stop light "Do you remember?" bonnie asked, Elena wondered whether she should tell bonnie the weird happenings of that night, escaping a massive wreck without a scratch, the weird object that veered them away from the bridge's waters, and Stefan's wrist at her mouth.

"Can we talk about something else?" Elena suggested, this conversation would become a whirlwind of questions if she let bonnie think there was anything peculiar about him, she would never let it go. She already thought she was psychic, what next, would she think her crazy grandmother came to rescue her from the bridge and cast a spell on her. It was all pretty absurd, Bonnie's family and her supposed clan of Saylem witches, she wondered if Bonnie really did believe in it all, had her grandmother really rubbed off on her that much? She had been talking about strange numbers and coincidences for weeks now.

"So, how's you and matt doing?" Bonnie asked anxiously, swiftly changing the conversation to another cringy subject.

"Were okay, maybe things will be different now after the crash and all" Elena looked over to bonnie for her reaction.

"Or maybe you should just be honest with yourself Elena", she didn't look convinced at all, and why should she be? Things had not been good for a while, why would anything change how she felt.

"What do you mean?"

Bonnie sighed, "I mean I saw the way you were looking at Stefan today in History, what's the deal there?"

Elena smiled for a second remembering how she had watched him in class, how she was just so perfectly content to sit there forever and watch him.

"I don't know...I mean with matt, I don't know how I feel, Stefan...he saved me, and I just want to get to know him." What a complete lie, but if she admitted it to Bonnie, than it would mean that it's true. The fact that she has feelings for someone else and that it's completely out of her control, and that means dealing with it. Not tonight though, she needed to think about something besides boys just for one night.

"Uh huh" bonnie raised her eyebrows "sure ya do"

"Stop!" Elena giggled swatting her with her hand as they pulled up to the Lockwood mansion. The place was hopping with people, it was buzzing with excitement, people were already messy and falling around. God its only 9:30 Elena thought.

"Bonnie I thought this was going to be small"

Bonnie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion "me too..."

The house was packed, music was blaring from the garden, and people were wrestling on the lawn, and draining beer from kegs into large plastic cups. Caroline spotted their car and waved them over to where she was standing, next to the booze, and the majority of the football team.

"You made it wooo" she was already hammered, they could tell, it was when her voice reached another octave and she started celebrating about anything that happened no matter how miniscule it was.

"Hey babe" matt wrapped his arms around Elena, "you look great" he kissed her, hugging her closer.

"aww look at you two" Caroline tilted her head, and flung her hand to her heart

"Your first, straight from the sandbox" Elena frowned, she was way out of line, saying that in front of the football team, who in turn all laughed and teased Matt.

"Little matty and Elena" Caroline said again, matt laughed and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist.

Elena shrugged out of his grip "I'm gonna get a drink" she tried her best to smile, but she knew she looked bitter, how dare Caroline go on about her and matt like that, her fist time, in front of the football team. It's none of her business, and if people only knew how many people she had been with, they would certainly have an opinion about her.

Elena made her way to the keg, pouring herself a beer and downing the first cup quickly before pouring another, she knew she shouldn't, but heck she needed to take her mind of Caroline.

"Hey" she turned, mid gulp of her drink.

"Stefan" he smiled, dragging his eye's down her body and back up to meet her eye's again.

"You made it" she smiled again, noting how his eye's seemed to be glued to hers. Once again. Wow.

"Yes, I made it" still his eyes were attached, that thing was happening again, where she forgot where she was, her heart started pounding, she needed to look away quickly.

"How did you find your first day?" she asked, as he made his way around her to pour himself a drink, he brushed her hand slightly and it took everything inside her not to gasp at how close he was to her.

"Mr Tanner is a strange person", he filled his cup and leaned against the wall watching the happenings around the room, people making out, smoking, messing with ornaments around the expensive mansion.

Elena giggled, "Yeah he's a character alright"

"Wellll what's going on here?" Caroline slid her hands around Stefan's waste and grabbed the drink out of his hand,

"Thank you Stefan" she smiled overly happy to be claiming him as her own.

Elena's heart fluttered into her mouth, seeing Caroline wrapped around Stefan had set something off inside of her. Had Caroline actually managed to nab Stefan tonight, she could feel a lump forming in her throat. Why did this hurt so much? Why was she letting it get to her, maybe it was the alcohol but one thing was for certain seeing Stefan with someone hurt. It hurt like hell. Elena set her drink down, she was lost for words, couldn't even explain herself as she turned to leave, avoiding eye contact with Stefan was all that mattered.

Stefan tried to reach for her, and she could vaguely see his hand as he reached for her, but she was gone, her gut clenched, her eyes burned. _Am I going to cry...holy shit._

"Elena" she could hear in the distance, _keep walking Elena _she told herself. What was wrong with her, why was she feeling like this, she had never been jealous before, there was nothing to be jealous about, she always calm and collected and god she wished her sub conscious hadn't picked this exact time to be overly emotional, but it seemed to overpower her. She could still hear him calling her name in the distance, but she didn't even want to know why.

She found another keg and downed another drink, and another and then another.

"You okay?" matt put his hand on her shoulder and she turned to kiss him, deepening their kiss, pulling him closer until there was no room left between them.

"Wow! Where did that come from?" he was smiling so wide, she knew he felt so much for her, why couldn't she figure out what she felt for him.

"I know" she smirked, reaching for his hand and dragging him upstairs. When she finally found an empty room, Matt already knew what they were doing and he locked it before reaching for her again and kissing her. Elena tugged on his shirt and he ran his fingers through her hair, still nothing, she felt only his hands, his lips moving against hers, conventional and mundane, why?

She took the lead for more and pulled him to the bed, his hands sliding up her dress and he kissed down her neck, Elena getting anxious now, she pulled his shirt up and he helped her. She could tell he was getting carried away, panting and moaning against her as he reached over her underwear. Why couldn't she loose herself like she did when she stared at Stefan, what was wrong with her, did she want something she couldn't have, would it be this way with everyone?

"I love you" he whispered in her ear and Elena bit her lip, why was he saying this, 'make me feel something' she was screaming inside, she flipped over straddling him, his hands reaching for her underwear now, doing what he usually did. Elena pretended like she was enjoying it, she kissed his neck and encouraged him, but nothing, still nothing.

"Say it" he whispered, and she looked him in the eyes and he looked desperate, she kissed him again dismissing it and he rolled her over, going deeper with his fingers.

"Say it" he begged again, and he was nearly hurting her now.

"No" she said abruptly and he pulled away from her leaving her there.

"Matt don't" but he was fixing his shirt and getting ready to leave.

"Why did you bring me up here Elena? Because you're drunk?"

"No matt" she didn't sound convincing, even to herself. She never did things like this, she didn't feel herself right now, whenever they fooled around it was his initiation not hers.

"Because you saw Stefan and Caroline? I saw you Elena, what's going on?" Elena looked down, this was it, if there was ever at time, it was now.

"This isn't working matt" and he looked genuinely confused.

"What? I wasn't breaking up with you Elena I-"

"No matt, I can't do this"

"Seriously Elena?"

"You do this every time!" she shouted, her temper getting the better of her, she pulled her skirt down and fixed her shoes back on.

"I don't want to say it unless I mean it matt, and you put that on me, you pressure me every time I'm with you"

And after that he stopped, he looked so heartbroken as he stood for a moment to look at her and left the room. Elena let out an exasperated breath, she couldn't believe what this relationship had turned into. What do you do when you've reached a peak with someone , when it's not what you want, and friendship is the only thing keeping you from ending it. Tears started welling up, she needed to leave, she wanted to go home. This was certainly not the night she had envisioned when she agreed to come to the party.

* * *

Elena found her bag and skipped down the road making sure no one could see her, fresh tears were streaming down her eyes, as she carried her heels in her hand. It was still spring but there was a cool breeze, the branches on the tree's around her blowing violently in the wind. She was somehow really aware of her surroundings as the music and talking began to dissolve in the background. It was a long walk back to her house. She could feel her phone vibrating but she ignored it.

She walked further down the dark path, seeing no light in the distance, and suddenly the sound of branches breaking made her stop in her tracks. It sounded like someone walking, who else would be here? She looked around, her heart beating faster, as the wind died down and the quietness surfaced. She walked again and heard steps on hollow earth coming closer, she began to run. The sounds got louder, from both sides of the path, Elena panicked and let out a scream, tripping on a branch, she fell violently down a hump beside the road and into the ditch.

"Hello?" she heard a voice as soon as she got her bearings and realised she was stuck in a pile of nettles. _Ughh_

"Help me!" she called trying to pick herself up, having scratched her knee and knotted herself deeper into the thistles of ivory next to a tree.

"Elena" she heard a calm voice come nearer, her eyes needed to focus about 4 times before she realised it was Stefan.

"Elena what happened?" her fresh tears obvious, he wiped them away with the base of his thumb

"I'm sorry" she whimpered, and let him lift her to her feet. _Ouch. _There was nothing to disguise the pure mortification of this moment.

She gathered the remnants of her things back in her bag as he helped her, her phone still ringing; she shoved it back into her back aggressively and walked away.

"Thanks Stefan I have to go" she walked away trying, needing to leave.

"Please" he ran in front of her grabbing both her arms.

"Please let me walk you Elena" her eyes met his and she instantly felt safe, for a moment they stood there, his grasp on her shoulders strong and sure, she remembered his arms on her, the night at the bridge, so confiding. She nodded hesitantly, _how can it get any worse? _And they began walking.

**Okay so don't hate me! Remember she didn't sleep with Matt, she didn't want to...maybe she's saving herself for someone :p**

**Your thoughts?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, I'm really sorry for the late update, I have been travelling and I don't know why I thought I could write while I was on the go. I hope there is still interest in this story. So i have added two new chapters up, once again I apologize.**

* * *

"Wait...Myley Cyris?" elena tried to keep her amusement from reaching her face, but once again, the fit of giggles arrived and she was in tears laughing at Stefan once again.

"Easssyyy" Stefan stedied her as she doubles over and gives in to her laughter.

"Stefan, i think weve walked this road at least 5 times tonight" Elena realizes as she passes her neighbours yard regognising the swing her and matt made when they were young is still perfectly in tact.

"Im sorry, i didn't even realize" he mumbled with a huge grin on his face,Elena blushed, _does he want to stay out all night? Gah!_

Realizing that she had been smiling for the past 5 minutes and her cheeks are beginning to hurt Elena pushed back her hair and tried to compose herself. Stefan reached for a branch and began to dismantle it, seemingly shy all of a sudden, she watched him from the corner of her eye as he walked calmly beside her. He was almost too good looking, the way he walked with such confidence, but his eyes seemed to carry so much baggage and anxiousness sometimes, it was distracting, as continued to pull of twigs from the branch he turned and they lock gazes. _Wow!_

"This is nice" she says and he's tilting his head again, piercing her with those green pools.

"Just being able to talk and..._not_ talk...just being...comfortable" Elena continued and she could see him smile, she would do anything to see that smile, he didn't seem to do it often.

"Im glad" he threw the branch away and it made a whipping sound as it cut through the air and he stopped walking, Elena only stopped when their faces were inches apart. _Oh god._ For a second, Stefan looked like he was in deep thought, she could feel him thinking about something as he watched her knott her fingers, she could feel his hand move reluctantly towards her, but then return to his side again. _Oh god please touch me!_

"So what happened over there?" he seemed nervous now, like it wasn't his place to ask, but he just couldn't help it.

"You don't have to tell me...i-"

"Stefan" Elena interrupted, she thought it looked pretty obvious to everyone what had happened and the fact was, it looked exactly like what it was too. She was jealous, more than jealous actually, she was infuriated by the idea of Caroline and Stefan together. She couldn't shake the feeling, not even now with him beside her, she wanted to curl up into a ball and cry about it.

"me and matt, were not...working" she said after a few moments, she nit her brows together and shook her head in disapproval. "I-" she stumbled again suddenly feeling like maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. Should I really be telling this guy about my...ehh...relationship? God he has probably has tonnes of girlfriends she thought.

"Hey" Stefan grinned at her and started walking, leading back up her road once again, he seemed a bit calmer, less anxious now, playful nearly as he grabbed her elbow and guided her next him, and elenas heart leaped. _Stefan Salvatore, what are you doing to me!_

"I'm a loner so the only person that would ever know is...me..." he tried to laugh, but it was the truth, she was really the only person he had talked to for more than 5minutes in a few years, he forgot how much he missed it. And right then, he knew he would do anything for her, he barely knew her, but to him, he felt like he already did.

After a few moments Elena decided to go for it, he had after all decided to ditch the party to walk aimlessly around her block to talk to her. Maybe he was genuinely interested...in _her_ she hoped.

"I don't know, matt and I, he's that friend since childhood that you start dating because...you owe it to yourselves to see if you can be more" Elena was surprised by how well she put it, but it was the truth, Matt was a nice guy, the only guy she has ever been close to.

"and.." Stefan asked with a low cool voice, but inside he was anxious.

"matt and i together, it wasn't emmm...it's not.."

"passionate?" she looked up at him in awe, hoping for a second he was feeling the exact same way, or had ever experienced trying to love someone who you just have no chemistry with. _Stefan Salvatore, wow!_

"no...no it wasn't passionate" and there they were a block away from her house, gazing, and she wondered how it was just so easy with Stefan to just look him in the eyes and know he understood, knowing he could see right through her, what she needed. And now staring wasn't as uncomfortable anymore, it was inviting, exciting, exhilarating, because he seemed like such a gentle creature, and she realised for a second that they were very alike, fragile and vulnerable. But suddenly as she continued gazing at him, his eyes grew darker, harder to see, mist of black and red clouded his face as he stared back at her, it was Stefan but, he was changing. _What...the hell?_

"Your eyes...their"

"oh...I'm sorry..ehh" Stefan swung around hunching his body, she reached for him but he pulled away instantly.

"I must be tired" he croaked, shielding his face from hers.

"Stefan" Elena tried again, confused and startled.

"I'll see you at school" he called as he walked away leaving her completely motionless, _what the hell was that?_

Despite the abrupt ending to the night Elena was still pleased with herself, she had gotten to talk the night away with Stefan Salvatore, she looked at her phone, 2:30am, and 7 missed calls from home. Grounded. _Shit._


	5. Chapter 5

Elena tried so hard to focus on her homework but she simply couldn't, last night's encounter with Stefan was so simple but so significant, it was strangely endearing how she had connected with him so easily and quickly. Already she missed him, thinking about how he lifted her again into his arms when she fell and how hard his muscles felt under his shirt, how good he smelled.

She sighed, thinking that Caroline might be with him right now while she was stuck indoors grounded for all intents and purposes, Greyson, still overly protective after the accident had warned her about her curfew before she left that night. So she supposed she deserved it.

"Hey sweetie" her mom leaned on the doorframe to her room, knocking softly after she had already entered which seemed pointless.

"Hi" Elena returned to her book, still bitter about being inside on such a nice day as she scribbled on her biology book.

"So you let him go?" she asked without really needing answer, Miranda knew her daughter too well, she came around to pull Elena's hair back off her shoulders, smoothening the ends with her fingers, having to remind herself that her daughter was growing up.

"Yeah" Elena sighed, looking at her mom's reflection in the mirror knowing she was looking glum, but she wasn't upset about that, she was annoyed because she wanted to see Stefan again.

"Mom?"

"Yes darling?" Elena put her pen down, closing her biology notebook making a thumping noise as thick pages hit together.

"How do you know when you're in love?" she asked, slightly embarrassed and feeling naive, being 17, should this not have happened yet?

Miranda let a small laugh escape her as she moved across to sit on the desk and face her with a smile that told her everything takes time, and her face tilted as she moved a hair from her face to push it behind her ear, how proud she was of her daughter that was almost a senior and would soon be 18. Miranda was relieved that her daughter still talked to her about everything, and confided with her about things that came along with the push and pull of life. Elena wanted everything and she wanted it now, she could tell, but still beneath all of that she was still compassionate and caring, maybe too much to the extent where she felt alone.

"Oh honey, ..you just know, you can just feel it, I promise" she smiled before leaving the room.

"Love you mom" Elena called before she left the room.

"Love you too honey" she called back walking down the stairs.

Elena pulled out her journal and began to write, about the Lockwood party, about matt, and of course, her new and most frequent entry, Stefan Salvatore.

* * *

Pulling together ready cook dinner in the kitchen, Elena sighed as she began reading the instructions carefully, remembering the last disaster she had while cooking, nearly setting the microwave on fire because she left the tin foil in the pasta dish. "Here goes nothing" she smiled to herself from the memory.

Jenna nearly called the fire department, she was just as useless in the kitchen as Elena was, whatever skills Miranda had at cooking certainly didn't run in her genes.

The doorbell rang, Miranda and Greyson were out tonight and Elena was left alone while Jeremy was out with his soccer friends. Great, even my brother has a better social life than I do she thought as she opened the door.

As it swung open Elena breath caught, she regretted it after seeing Stefan's reaction to way she noticed him, "Hi" he spoke so delicately and smiled, showing his perfect teeth as it curved so beautifully around his face. God that smile should be illegal.

How was it possible for him to look even more gorgeous now than all of the other times she had been in his presence, perhaps because for the first time ever, she actually allowed herself to completely check him out without feeling guilty about Matt. He was wearing a back v neck that hugged his chest so well, and fit in so perfectly with his muscular shoulders that hung with such elegance over his collar bone. She longed to see him without it, or better yet him without it while he hung above her, tensing as he moved to worship her body. The thought sent tingles down her spine, seriously what was she doing to herself, what was she thinking?

Elena shook her head when she realized she hadn't said hi back and Stefan's eyes were arching in confusion as she stood there swinging out of the door like a drunkard.

"Hi Stefan," she looked around hoping not to see Caroline or anyone else from school waiting on him, in case they had just called in to convince her to come to the grill tonight. But he was alone, had he come for her? Her heart thrummed with excitement from the mere idea that he might be into her.

"Sorry for just dropping in, I just..." he seemed to stumble for a second, very unlike the cool Stefan she had conversed with last night. She wondered if he was as nervous as she was when he was around her, the thought put her at ease and she began to relax again. Thank god.

"I just wanted to apologize for running off on you last night, I should have walked you home" he looked genuinely torn by this, his eye's so deep and saddened pierced her as they so often did and made her heart throb for him. She had wondered why he left so abruptly, but she never considered it that odd, perhaps he had a curfew too, she had forgotten about hers after all, by his very presence that seemed to make time stand still.

"It's ok" she almost whispered, but the sincerity dripped though as his eye's left hers and there was just silence between them, an uncomfortable one.

Elena took a deep breath realizing he was still on the porch "Do you want to come in?" she asked opening the door wider to let him in.

Stefan looked at the door frame and then to her, he still looked torn she thought, but when he turned again the view of his side profile, that masculine jaw and his strong brow distracted her while he pondered about whether he should allow himself to continue being so close to her, why else did he come though, he thought to himself. To be with her.

He swung his head back to her gaze that was obviously still sizzling in his direction and Elena blushed, looking down because he caught her staring. Again.

"Yes" he smiled walking in, still their eye's locked as she closed the door behind her and leaned against it, how was this happening she wondered, could she be around him for any longer and not feel like she needed to get closer to him, under his skin until she knew every part of him, know every single ounce of him off by heart. Stefan's stare turned dark, his eyebrows springing together as he looked around.

"Is..something burning?"

"oh my god" Elena leaped passed him and ran to the kitchen that was being filled with smoke, of course she had left the dinner in for too long, completely forgetting to set the timer, the smoke alarm began to ring and she opened the cooker with oven mitts to pull out a black, nicely burnt eat in dinner, not even worthy feeding to canine.

"I take it cooking is not your forte" Stefan said as he walked behind the breakfast counter and reached to open a window.

"Nope, this wouldn't be the first time either" Elena joked as she threw the half melted sizzling black chicken dinner into the trash can.

"So what's plan b?" Stefan asked, with an amused smirk that she had never seen before, it only made him sexier she thought as his eye's matched the smouldering expression too and sent tingles up her spine.

"Plan b is...give up Elena and order pizza...you hungry?" she asked looking for the menus in the droor. When she looked back Stefan had opened the fridge nonchalantly examining the contents and making a quick decision.

"We could make Thai stir fry?" he offered pulling out some ingredients

"You can help of course" he offered sending her an apologetic grin

"Sounds good to me" she smiled pulling the chopping board out and readying the vegetables.

Talking came easy after that, Elena told Stefan about every failed kitchen attempt and how Aunt Jenna celled the fire department when flames spread on one occasion.

Stefan guided Elena, directing on her on the vegetables as he stirred the noodles and fried the meats, making a sauce that had her nearly keeling over from the smell.

"Okay now throw in the rest of the vegetables and stir" he directed as she mixed some more ingredients, he came up behind her shoulder and Elena's breath caught in her throat, his hand at her waist as he watched her mix the ingredients around the wok.

"Very good miss Gilbert" he complemented, and Elena went red from the close distance he was to her, she could smell his beautiful scent, his hand still very delicately touching her hip, her mind hazed, she couldn't think of anything else.

When he moved off she continued stirring the sizzling sauce, sighing deeply trying to think of anything else but his hands on her and how they felt, what would it be like to kiss him, would it be like matt? Would I be bored, god I shouldn't even be thinking about this.

Stefan returned and touched her elbow, coaxing her to turn slowly, butterflies fluttered through her as she turned and he leaned forward with a spoon to taste the raspberry parfait he had made while she fried the ingredients.

"what do you think?" as the spoon slid from her lips and she closed her eye's

"mmmmm, Stefan Salvatore you are a genius" he smiled at this, catching her eye for a second and she blushed.

My god this man is going to kill me!

"How's that stir fry going?" he saw her reaction and quickly shifted gears, "I duno..." she looked worried, tensing her bottom lip and showing her bottom teeth. She held out a spoon for him and he tasted it. He played with it in his mouth for a second looking worried, "What Stefan?" still nothing , no answer, until he just stopped trying to sample it completely and his face reddened.

"ehh" he started coughing and laughing at the same time, "Stefan, oh my god" she hit him, smiling as he reached for the tap to spit out the taste and rinsing his mouth in the sink. "Oh my god how much chilli did you put in?" she slapped him on the shoulder again, "hey, I followed your instructions" Elena was still in fits of laughter from the look of his reddened face. Could it really be that bad, actually maybe it could knowing her and her crappy knowledge on proportions that were usually extremely inaccurate when it came to cooking.

"Taste it Elena" she took a spoon full and immediately reached for the sink herself afterwards from the extreme heat of the sauce, "oh my god" they both laughed looking at each other's red faces, "note to self, Elena Gilbert stays OUT of the kitchen!" he laughed patting her back as she wiped the water from her mouth, she was nearly choking from laughter, she swatted him again playfully from the insult.

"Hey" as he tickled her without thinking and she reached into the pot and wiped sauce over his face still screaming, as they wrestled around the kitchen, squirming and laughing.

"You're ridiculous" he said without thinking, and his face softened when her eye's met his, they were catching their breaths, in a way that made him tense thinking about her panting in that way in front of him. Where did that come from? She was pinned in between his muscular arms, as her grasp on his biceps fell helplessly down to his wrists and she shivered. She felt something pulling her, an urge to be closer as he gazed at her with something that clung on to her heart and made her forget about everything else. Still breathing heavily all she could hear was her heart pounding against her chest, she could see his olive coloured skin up close, his beautifully complicated facial features and the true depth of his eye's that seemed to go on and on luring her in every time she looked at them, so much lust in that gaze.

She placed a hand on his cheek, so slowly she could feel him shudder, the hairs raising on his arms, she read his reaction to her touch, he wanted her. She wiped the chilli from his face innocently, only realising he had completely misread the gesture when his lips were on hers. A sudden surge of electricity in that delicate kiss, he brushed his lips off her's realising she had only intended to wipe the sauce off his face he pulled away, trying to read her expression, she seemed surprised, in awe, scared?

Suddenly, she slammed her lips back to his roughly and tugged on his shirt to bring him closer. Her body melted into his, the intensity of the moment growing thicker by the second. Tingles of intense want flew down her thighs as his beautifully hard body pressed harder against hers, he opened his mouth further and their tongues swirled, she could feel his want, his need, his desire for her in that one kiss. His hand ran through her hair, and she moaned as he pulled away, gasping for second before reconnecting again.

God this felt so good, it felt so right. She could still taste some of the sauce in his mouth as his hands roamed down her side and his hips pressed harder against hers, feeling him hard for her. God she had never wanted someone so much in her life. Not only did relief wash over her, but also the passion intensified with him too as he seemed to hesitate for a second before pushing her against the counter and leaving kisses on her cheek, her jaw, he neck.

"Oh Stefan" she moaned, god he felt so good. She honestly thought his kisses alone would be enough to send her over the edge. His lips returned to hers again and she dragged her fingers up his shirt and she could feel his abs, so defined and hard like stone, his hands at the hem of her tank top now, and she couldn't think clearly, pulling at his top until it was nearly off him.

"Ahem..." they heard a voice from the living room. Stefan tore his lips from her's panting wildly as he pulled away from her, only to see Jeremy standing in the living room with his arms crossed and a huge smirk appearing wider when he saw Elena's face completely red and flushed.

"Mum and dad will be home soon, so...unless you want dad to ground you into the next century maybe you guys should...get a room" he fell on to the sofa and turned on a sports channel.

Stefan turned back to Elena with confused eye's, she mouthed sorry to him, but he didn't seem to register it. Lifting his hand he stoked the pad of his thumb over her cheek and glared at her with want and need. She leaned in again completely forgetting that Jeremy was still in the room next to them, although the sound of sports commentators made it easier to breathe normally again.

"I better go" Stefan whispered smiling at her.

"Okay" her voice broke, god did she really sound that goofy right now. Her knee's felt like jelly as she followed him to the door. He opened it and turned to her before leaving

"I had fun" he said, lifting her hand and kissing it, Elena smiled, seriously lost for words and feeling really lame for still not having caught her breath after that kiss.

"Me too" she whispered as he walked backwards out the door, his eye's still connected, still focused only on her, the possessiveness and raw passion in them was too much to comprehend all at once, Elena watched him leave until he was out of sight and closed the door. What the hell was that?


	6. Chapter 6

Monday morning couldn't have felt any more disturbing, Elena couldn't decide which was worse the fact that she would have to deal with Matt after the break up, or that her stomach hadn't stopped doing summer salts at the very thought of seeing Stefan again. Either way she would have to deal with both of them, Elena left her half eaten toast next to the sink and shouted goodbye as she caught a lift with Bonnie.

"Hey" Elena swung her bag into the back seat and hopped into the front.

"Well someone is happy this fine morning" Bonnie commented as she pulled away from the curb.

"Well, you know I have _many_ things to be thankful for today, the sunshine, our history pop quiz, the dance - ouch" Elena laughed as Bonnie shoved her with her free hand, picking up on her sarcastic but obvious attempt to hint on serious gossip.

"Okay spill!" Bonnie demanded. Elena considered the possibility that Bonnie would have figured out something was up anyway after only a few seconds of being in her presence, if so she was either a mind reader, or they were seriously bound for life.

Of course she told her, every single detail about every second of the kiss and how Stefan had just arrived at her house to give her cooking lessons unannounced.

"Oh my god Elena seriously?"

"Yeah I know" she sighed shaking her head, as the reality of it all started hitting her right there like a brick wall. The kiss had been so mind blowingly out of nowhere, so random and almost by accident, she hadn't actually stopped to assess the situation.

"God Bonnie, what am I doing? Matt and only just broke up and...uh I don't know" the realisation that she become a lot like some of the girls she disapproved of really got to her. The ones that moved on from guy to guy, just because they could, regardless of feelings or intimacy, instead to some, it was like a piece of fashion that could be interchangeable between the seasons. If she was being honest, she didn't feel in her right frame of mind when she was around Stefan, he did something to her that she couldn't understand. There was an attraction there that made her forget about the if's and don'ts that were normal with anyone else.

"I knew it was coming..." Bonnie said after a few moments and sent her a warm smile. Elena raised her eyebrows in question.

"I mean, I knew things weren't working with matt, and I knew you had the hot's for Stefan...plus when you ran off on Friday, he was looking everywhere for you...actually felt sorry for the guy" Elena smiled at that shred of information, had he actually looked for her? Was it possible that he was drawn to her the exact same way she was drawn to him, god the thought of that made her tremble.

Still feeling unsettled in a peculiar way about the entire situation, the approaching school day didn't seem like it would turn out to be so bad after all.

Elena gathered her books from her locker, a constant flow of people mazed down the halls and filled the morning atmosphere with an exciting buzz as people gossiped and slammed their lockers. As the first bell rang Elena picked her bag up and turned only to face Matt as he slouched awkwardly behind her, looking pale and uneasy. Not his usually carless boyish humour that she enjoyed in the mornings, he looked uncomfortable and restless, and Elena knitted her brows together knowing she was the one that had made him this way.

"Hey" she said softly looking at the ground and backing up, widening the space that she desperately needed between them.

"Hey" Matt replied, his eyes were bloodshot and his hair was still damp from his morning shower, she remembered that she had ignored his texts during the weekend, and instantly felt guilty for letting him hang on this long. Elena opened her mouth to speak but was beaten to the punch as Matt blurted out,

"Elena, I screwed up" as he shifted from foot to foot and pressed his lips together.

"Matt, I'm sorry..." she paused feeling unprepared "I did too, but things with us" she sighed fidgeting with the strap of her bag.

"It's him isn't it" Matt interrupted.

Elena knew in some way this was coming, someone would know who she had left with and it would have made its way around to him, that and his observation to her reaction when she saw Stefan with Caroline. And again the memory of how they had been in the bedroom together. Elena bit her lip in frustration. "Matt" she paused. _How do I put this?_

"I felt like this before, you knew it, but...I was too much of a coward to say anything" Matt said nothing as the words hung in the air for a few moments. And finialy Elena leaned in and kissed his cheek gently, the only confide she could think of in the moment.

"I'm sorry but it's over" and Matt nodded in understanding, this was going better than she expected, but Matt was always like that. He didn't know physical boundaries very well, but he listened when he had to and she was thankful for that. She wished she could love him, because he deserved it, his home life wasn't exactly picture perfect either and she wanted him to have a happy ending, he would make any girl happy, he was a catch after all. Captain of the football team, with a fun easy going personality, an all American tall sandy haired young man and gentle by nature that respected everyone and everything around him, any girl would be lucky to have him. She felt like she had let him down in more ways than one.

"I still believe in us" he whispered as he gathered her in his arms for a hug. Elena wanted to cry, she hoped she would still have his friendship, because she knew she could never be his girlfriend again, she was done pretending, she was done trying, hopefully things could go back to normal eventually.

* * *

The day dragged on after that debacle, Elena looked and searched everywhere for Stefan, but he was nowhere, not even in the canteen. She felt so anxious to see him it made her jittery; she nearly spilled her whole can of soda on Caroline at one point, thinking she had spotted him on her peripheral, what was going on? Could she not go through _one_ today without seeing him. _Gah!_

As Elena settled at her desk in history, she noticed almost instantly Stefan's seat was empty. Why wouldn't he come to school she wondered? Maybe he was sick? Maybe he was avoiding her. Elena's thoughts bounced around way too much today and she was more than aware of the fact, and she felt the sudden urge to scream, she was driving herself crazy.

Finally class started, Mr. Tanner sprung around the class room once again hurling questions at any student that looked vulnerable, history had once been one of her favourite subjects, but when Mr. Tanner threw his weight around the class room and spat facts in her face, she decided to tune out and study at home.

Suddenly the door burst open and Stefan raced to his seat, but something was off about him, she didn't know how she knew but she did, he just seemed completely and utterly enraged. His face was dark and his body was tense, he wasn't his usual flamboyant and self assured self, he actually looked so obliterated with anger that his focus on the desk made it look like he was about to snap it in half. Elena's heart ached for him in that very second, she felt an invisible rope tugging her towards him to heal and soothe any pain he may be feeling.

"Tardiness will not be accepted in my classroom Mr. Salvatore", Elena's head swung around when she heard Mr. Tanner speak, Stefan didn't even seem to register Mr. Tanners voice, his head hung between his broad shoulders, and his fists were white as they curled around the desk, he hadn't even taken off his jacket. Did he come straight to _this_ class?

"Mr. Salvatore..." Mr. Tanner was enjoying this, and it was probably the worst situation because he was the type of person who enjoyed taking advantage of the vulnerability in someone inferior than him. Elena could feel her stomach knot, something wasn't right and she could feel it.

Just then Stefan raised his head slowly to meet Mr. Tanners eyes, like a wind up doll ready to pounce, he glared at him from the desk, this was not going to end well, a staring match with Mr. tanner would at least mean detention. But Stefan looked like he was going to fly out of his chair and hit him, that would mean suspension. The intensity in his eyes, that seemed so focused on mr. Tanner, it felt like time was moving so slowly as they stared.

But surprisingly, Mr. Tanner looked away, disoriented and confused, he seemed to recognise his surroundings again and resumed teaching. Stefan hunched back in his chair, what the hell was that? People started whispering and Mr. Tanner began the pop quiz. How strange. Anyone who challenged Mr. Tanner were usually in for a thrashing, no matter who it was or with what excuse, what the hell did Stefan do to make Mr. Tanner change his mind?

When the bell rang, Stefan jumped from his seat and out the door, what was going on with him? Elena was almost certain he hadn't been in school before history, and that was the only class they shared together apart from French on Thursdays. Elena couldn't stand the thought of Stefan just leaving and suffering alone, she made an excuse to bonnie and raced through the corridors after him.

"Stefan" she called, only seeing his back as she criss crossed through the valley of students in her path.

"Stefan wait" but he was already out the front door, what the hell was going on?

As soon she swung passed the doors she called again "Stef-"and suddenly she was swung to the wall with a hand on her mouth as her lungs heaved in horror.

"Shhhhh" Stefan's body was pressed up against her, his left hand grazing her arm as the other pressed her mouth shut. She couldn't figure out whether her heart was pounding because he was so close to her again or because she was so surprised by the way he had shoved her to the wall and shushed her.

Stefan turned his head, and she could see a man walking up the steps and into the school, the bushes next to the entrance managed to cover them from view as the man passed. Stefan's eyes were dark and angered, she could feel him tremble and tense above her body. But yet, even after the way he had handled her, she wasn't afraid, there was no way she could ever be afraid, she thought as she studied him closer. She could never be scared of him.

And as soon as the doors stopped swinging, his grip loosened on her body and he released her mouth. Elena was still catching her breath, but Stefan's eyes on her in that very moment told her he was ready to throw himself in front of a bus.

"I'm so sorry Elena"

"Who was that man Stefan?" she asked softly, trying to calm him, he looked weak, he looked so tired, and she longed to hold him.

Stefan sighed; "Its Damon...my brother" his hand fluttered to her hair and pulled out a small branch she had caught near the hedge he had pulled her to.

"Thank you" she nearly couldn't form that sentence, the simple act alone made her forget where they were and what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" She asked, his hand now drifting to her cheek, and he looked pained just staring at her face as he caressed her cheek. She leaned into it, feeling his soft tender fingers glide. Stefan nodded after a moment, loosing concentration himself.

"I am now" he answered smiling, as he released a pained breath, so close to her that her lips tingled with desire.

"Family drama?" she commented trying to lighten his mood, and Stefan nodded again but pulled away.

"Don't" she caught his hand as he began to walk away. Half because she was scared she wouldn't see him until tomorrow and half because she wanted to be close to him for longer.

"Don't I-" she didn't know where she was going with this, she just knew she didn't want him to leave, not like this, not when he obviously needed someone. He leaned into her closer again, Elena's arms flew to his neck, not even knowing how she had gathered the guts to do it as she studied his face. He was so handsome and intimidating as his lips lifted into a crooked smile, and she knew he could see her melt whenever they touched.

"Oh Elena" he sighed so softly near her lips as she leaned in and kissed him tenderly, slow and smooth, that kiss was something she could do for hours. She could feel his need for her, as it slowly wound into an uncontrollable urge to deepen and breaths were catching, tongues duelling like they had done this a million times before. He pushed her against the wall and her hands fell down his chest, he ran his fingers through her soft hair as he pushed up against her and she moaned. Seriously this was happening in school? If this went on for any longer it she wouldn't be able to help herself.

Slowly he pulled away, and it took a few moments for his eyes to open and meet hers as he held her head between his hands and leaned his forehead on hers.

"Elena" he breathed near her temple, his deep voice sent chills down her spine, it didn't matter what he said next, because god, that kiss said everything she needed to know.

"Will you leave with me? I...I don't-" she interrupted him, placing her lips on his fingers that remained in her hair and looked him in the eye's.

"Anywhere"

**Please leave your reviews guys :D**


	7. Chapter 7

Elena drove slowly up to the boarding house, she had only passed a few times before when visiting the property with her family and sometimes with friends. But up close, the house was so much bigger, red bricks wound into complicated patterns, the architecture was rustic and medieval.

Stefan was quiet in the car, Elena fought with herself for the entire drive not to just grab is hand and squeeze it reassuringly. But he seemed so distant now, what was he thinking? She would give anything to know why he was this way, he was nearly always so anxious and carful around her.

She followed Stefan to the door as he opened it and motioned for her to enter.

"Do you not lock you doors?" Stefan smirked at her.

"Sometimes" how vague. Stop being mysterious!

As she entered she couldn't help but admire the gothic decor, it was dark but warm at the same time. She wondered if this was his uncles, or had it been passed down through the Salvatore's over the years. The paintings on the wall's looked like they belonged in a renaissance museum. The shadows were dark, the subject matter was formal and eerie.

Suddenly Elena felt nervous. Stefan seemed so tense and apprehensive about something, what could have happened in the last 24hours that made him like this?

Needing to know more answers Elena ventured a guess.

"So...I take it your brother and you don't get on?" she turned to face him and was surprised to see he had moved closer to her. Her skin burned. He was so close, she could just touch him, but the shy Elena had returned and she wrapped her arms around herself as she felt him breathe behind her neck.

"No" he whispered. And ran a stand of hair through his fingers, the look in his eyes took her breath away, it was desire, it was want and painful thought. _Just tell me Stefan please! _That moment seemed to go on forever, as he let the strand of hair fall through his fingers slowly. What is he doing to me? Elena had to conceal her heavy breath as she felt his fingers fall down her waste. Her skin burned when he was so close, Elena bit down on her lip, looking for something to distract her, anything!

"You're journal?" Elena asked, nearly sounding like a whisper and she swallowed hard. She had seen a notebook perched on the couch with a pen sitting on top and presumed so.

Stefan smiled at her, "yes," his lips formed a straight line as he looked at her "if I don't write it down I...forget". Completely captivated by his answer she turned to him and smiled, she couldn't stand watching him look at her that way, with those eyes that say _love me, kiss me_ any longer and not do something about it. She drew in a heavy breath to shake her ever insistent butterflies that assaulted her when they were together, he didn't move an inch and their faces were nearly touching.

She brazenly caught the nape of his neck and pulled him to her, she had never done that before, just kissed someone out of nowhere and taking full charge. But god it was worth it, she had awoken something inside of him in that moment as he crushed his face into hers instantly. Elena moved her arms to his hair, as he moved her to the couch, with some strength she didn't know how. God it was so sexy that he could just lift her, she forgot how strong he was. And when she was suddenly on the couch with his arms on both sides, parting her legs with his knees she could feel how powerful he really was.

"God Stefan" she gasped as she ran her fingers through his hair. She wanted to do that for so long now, his lips moved down her jaw and she groaned, everything about him made her tremble, she was getting lost, further and further away from reality and to the world that was Stefan Salvatore. She knew she was falling too fast, even now when he returned to her lips, his eyes revealed so much, heat, lust, she wondered for a second if he felt the same as her. Because this felt _so_ right, he felt so right, everything, she wanted to say it but she couldn't, but she knew if he asked she would, she was falling so hard for Stefan Salvatore and it scared her more than anything she'd ever felt for anyone before.

He settled his body on her, and moved down her neck, licking and sucking to her ear lobe, Elena writhed underneath him, as she reached for under his shirt and felt the muscles she longed to admire. He felt so good, every part of him, how could she ever stop this, this feeling with him? He seemed so skilled it was intimidating, his lips drifted to her collar bone, his tongue appearing and then sucking before soothing again with lips.

"Oh god" Elena panted, and suddenly he was off her in an instant, his breathing hitched. He turned around blocking her from view as he panted frantically.

"Are you ok?" she smirked with a sense of satisfaction. God if he could feel what she did in those last few moments, she couldn't blame him for pulling away. She brought her hand to his shoulder reassuringly.

"Yeah...im...fine" he turned to face her, smiling and pressing his lips together. Had she made him forget about the other thing? She liked to think she did, maybe she was good for him. She wanted to be good for him.

"Maybe we should...press pause..." she suggested, concealing her smile from what just happened between them.

Stefan sighed and smiled back at her, she was right, where had all this come from? "Yeah you're right, lets...take it slow" _GAH! No!_

"Yeah" she laughed again, sitting up and fixing her shirt.

"Are you feeling-"

"Uncle Stefan" a voice interrupted them, followed by steps entering the foyer and through the living room.

"Uncle Stef-" Stefan stood quickly and came to meet his uncle near the hallway.

"Zack!" he stopped him in his tracks and sent him a warning look, Stefan gave him an exasperated look, Zack looked over at Elena and realized he had made a huge mistake. But what? This was his house, that Stefan was living with, and a few seconds ago they were getting hot and heavy on _his _couch.

"I need to talk to you Stefan", Zack was out of breath and he looked like the sky was about to collapse on top of them. Stefan excused himself and disappeared into the kitchen. What was going on with this family? It nearly felt like Stefan called the shots here the way he spoke with his uncle, she knew Zack from around Mystic Falls, he attended the usual events and worked at a garage in the town. But never once had she heard him mention a nephew. Elena couldn't get this niggling feeling that something was wrong here. She shuffled around the living room feeling suddenly unwelcome and confused about this house, she looked around the house not knowing what to make of it and how it connected to him.

Zack had said...uncle Stefan? She was certain of it, how could he have called him that even by accident. Elena wanted to push that memory aside, she wanted to just forget about it and continue where she had left off with Stefan a few minutes ago. But that just wasn't her, there was something Stefan wasn't telling her and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

She browsed around, looking at the books on the shelves, they all looked so ancient and worn, this place really was a few centuries old. When she backed away she came into contact with something and turned.

"Hello" a dark deep voice penetrated her thoughts, and when she looked up a tall dark man was towering over her. His hair was inky black and ruffled, his eye's grey and piercing, but in a way that told her sub conscious to run, his demeanour was threatening right down to his half hearted grin that shook her right to her core.

"I ehh" her voice broke, how had she not heard him enter the room?

"I'm Damon, Stefan's brother" he tilted his head, observing her from head to toe, as if she was a piece of meat, he licked his lips and smiled. It was strangely frightening the way he looked at her, like he could posses her, like he could own her at any second. Nobody had ever looked at her that way before. Not even the drunks that hung around the grill.

"Oh, hi, I'm Elena, Stefan's...friend" is that what she was? She wasn't sure anymore, she wasn't sure if she knew him. It killed her not knowing what he was thinking, or for that matter anything about him, something was up and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Elena scanned the dark man up and down, although his body language screamed plunder and destroy, Damon Salvatore was still a very attractive man, his hair was inky black and fell roughly across his forehead, his skin was pale and his eye's were a deep shade of grey. And again came that penetrating gaze, but she realized he hadn't stopped looking at her, his eye's shifted and narrowed and Elena felt nervous as he stared down at her gauging her reaction.

Knotting her fingers together, Elena wondered what was taking Stefan so long, at this stage the house felt completely foreign now, dilapidated, empty.

"So Damon-"

"Stefan seems to be very smitten here" Damon interrupted and made his way towards Stefan's journal, "i think he needed the move" he grinned and sauntered around her to sit on the couch.

Elena was curious, had Stefan talked to Damon about her? Or was he speaking in general. "What-"

Damon interrupted again, acting completely oblivious to her presence as he swooped behind her and landed on the couch opposite to where she was standing, crossing his legs and slamming his heavy boots on the wooden table. He turned the pages of Stefan's diary nonchalantly, searching for a particular entry, Elena watched him as she thanked god Jeremy wasn't interested in reading her diary, she would be more than mortified if he did. Wait a second, _maybe i should stop this_ she thought.

"Lets see.. dear journal back to mystic falls...blah blah bah" Damon feigned interest in most of the sections of Stefan's private journal and continued to turn pages, making cringy faces and mocking the entries he passed as each heavily inked page turned.

"Oh yes here we are, Elena Gilbert is nothing like Katherine Pierce, Katherine was never-"

"Damon!" Stefan shouted from the opposite side of the room and Elena jumped when she realised he was there.

Oh god, does he think i wanted to hear what Damon was reading? Elena was overwhelmed by what was unfolding in front of her, it seemed like she was watching a sitcom and the shit was about to hit the fan.

Stefan glanced at Elena, but when she opened her mouth to explain herself he turned his head back to Damon again. Stefan's fists were clenched and his jaw was tight, Damon on the other hand looked quite content with himself as he swung his hands behind his head and made himself more comfortable on the sofa.

"What are you doing Damon?" Stefan nearly whispered through clenched teeth, Elena didn't know if she heard him properly.

What? Elena knew she wanted to get out of there and let them sort out whatever they had to sort out, but what about the other thing? Was it Damon that had wound him up so tight earlier on? Why did his supposed 'uncle' call Stefan "Uncle Stefan?". _What is going on?_

Damon chukled "Awhh stefy" Damon stood and crossed his arms "I thought you might have already told Elena about Katherine, didn't mean to pry" Damon made a pouty face at Stefan before turning to Elena and narrowing his eyes and wagging his brows.

Elenas head swung back towards Damon, theres that name again Katherine. If it was an ex she didn't want to know about it, if it was his current girlfriend she also didn't want to know about it. Actually this is screwed up family stuff that i should not be hearing she thought.

"I'm gonna make a move Stefan" she turned to look at him, but he hadn't budged, he was watching Damon like he was about to run across and throw him against the wall. If anything had hurt her about this situation this was it, he hadn't even acknowledged her presence since he re-entered the room. Her throat swelled and her blood went sour, in that moment she felt stupid for coming here. To believe that Stefan wanted her to be here, that he wanted her at all.

"Stefan?" again nothing, his glassy eye's were just too focused, too enraged to notice anything else going on in the room.

"Good bye Elena" Damon tilted his head and narrowed his eyes again, "Drop by any time"

Elena nodded, not knowing exactly what just happened but just needing to get back to something normal for a little while.

**Thanks again for all the reviews you guys, there have been a few people asking me to update Coming Home, so I'm in the process of writing a few chapters of that story on the side. **

**Please let me know what you think of this chapter, I hope there aren't too many spelling mistakes, if there are I will fix them. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

** Thank you all for your patience, next update will be Wednesday.**

Elena plodded down the stairs sporting her pyjama shorts and a purple tank top, she could hear the commotion happening downstairs as she usually did on Saturday mornings, along with the smell of her moms cooking which usually put her in a good mood. Except for today, Elena was still grumpy about what had happened with Stefan yesterday, she wanted to take her mom's delicious egg's and bacon and nurse them next to some mindless television for the day.

"Morning honey" her mom greeted as Elena rounded the stairs, still squinting from the bright morning sun beaming in through the living room. Elena grunted and moved to the fridge to pull out some orange juice, completely by passing Jenna in the process.

"Well good morning to you too miss sunshine" Jenna commented and pulled a pouty face before returning to her coffee.

Miranda wrapped her arms around Elena and gave her a kiss on the cheek, her mom's usual chirpy Saturday morning self had not been affected one bit by Elena's bad humour and Miranda hugged her even closer because of it.

"moooom" Elena half sniffed and half laughed at her moms overly affectionate gesture, she knew she was making a show in front of aunt Jenna. But she couldn't think of any reason to be mad at her, she loved her mom when she was cutting loose at home, strutting around the house on her day off singing under her breath and cleaning as she went.

Elena turned on her heel and smirked at Jenna who sent her back a knowing smile, before she poured her juice into her glass.

"So spill, what's naggin ya?" Jenna asked while Miranda topped up her coffee, a sisterly gesture that was just too cute for Elena not to notice. She loved that Jenna came home on the weekends, it made the house more full and fun, she even had her own room to just crash, which she used regularly. Plus Jenna was Elena's go to person for advice and she was less strict than her mom was, she would even buy her a beer or two on the occasions that Elena was going out to a party.

"Uhhh" Elena grunted and rolled her eyes in exasperation. She didn't know why it was bothering her so much, she just couldn't let it go. "Why are men...so...Difficult?" she finally blurted out. Miranda and Jenna just laughed together in agreement.

"Yeah men are a mystery" Jenna shook her head and Elena got the sense that she had one too many stories on that topic and couldn't conceal her amusement as she snorted into her glass of orange juice.

"Which man in particular are we talking about here Elena?" Miranda asked with a giant smirk that made Jenna's mouth drop.

"Oh! There's a new boy on the scene now is there?" Jenna shimmied closer to the girl circle that was enclosing around Elena. Elena furrowed her brows. But seeing her mom and her aunt acting like, well, _girls_ was hilarious! And Elena giggled, but began eating her breakfast that Miranda had set out for her while she decided how to describe Stefan Salvatore in a few words.

"Is it that boy that you couldn't keep your eyes off last week?" Miranda asked with her mouth open waiting for an answer a bit too eagerly.

"MOM!" Elena nearly spat. How in the friken hell did she figure that one out?

"I knew it" Miranda said almost triumphantly.

"Yeah" Elena sighed as she began pushing her food around on her plate thinking about him, his body, his lips, well his everything.

"So what's the problem?" Jenna asked. Elena opened her mouth and shut it quickly when she realized she couldn't really reveal that she had missed her last class yesterday to spend the afternoon with Stefan in the Salvatore boarding house to make out.

"He just can be so..." Elena chose her words carefully

"Distant from me sometimes" she finished and looked up at the two interested faces staring back at her.

"And then" Elena continued and sighed when she remembered how they had been when they kissed, when they could just talk, everything was...good.

"Just all the other times when were together...it just feels sooo right" she sighed in resignation.

"Elena its normal to feel these things" Miranda tried to advise "maybe if you try to get to know him better and tell him how you feel..."

"Yeah" Jenna nodded in agreement "just be honest with him, otherwise you're never going to feel right"

They both looked so concerned; did she really look that miserable over Stefan? She hoped not. Then something dawned on her, she didn't even have his number even if she did want to talk to him.

"I don't even have his number"

"Oh! But I do" Miranda winked at Elena and danced over to her phone.

"And I still have to have that dinner to thank him for everything he did for us during the accident"

"Mom please don't" Miranda smirked as she started typing out a message on her phone.

"The matchmaker is in action Elena!" Miranda joked.

Maybe this would be a good way to start talking to him, at least this way they would be away from his brother and they could get to know each other. Elena shook her head and took a seat beside Jenna.

"Come on invite him tonight. That way I might not want to strangle uncle john for the entire family night"

"Uncle John is coming?" Elena whined. She never liked putting up with Uncle Johns arrogance, he walked around her like he owner her, she hated pretending like he was welcome in her home.

"Seriously?" Elena asked her mom as she watched her continue to message Stefan.

"Elena, you know your father doesn't get to see his brother often" Miranda realizing maybe the comment sounded a bit more stern than she intended reached for Elena's hand and squeezed it "I'll make sure he's not babbling on all night okay?" Elena smiled and squeezed her hand back.

Just as Miranda finished that sentence, Grayson entered the kitchen from the back door, dragging a bag of coal from the shed and some sticks of wood.

"Morning ladies" A few steps and he was behind Miranda planting a kiss on her cheek while hugging her close.

"Will you two get a room" Elena scoffed, half joking and half serious, it was embarrassing to see them act that way, so she shook her head and snuck the cup of coffee Jenna had poured for her out of sight and tiptoed to the living room. _Parents!_

* * *

"Elena can you get that?" Miranda called from downstairs.

Elena couldn't believe this was happening, Stefan arriving at her house for dinner with nearly her entire family, actually her entire family and _John_! She was relieved in a sense, but still felt uneasy about seeing him after what had happened yesterday.

Elena fixed her hair and took one last look in the mirror before making her way down the stairs. As she got closer to the door, she could feel her heart beat grow faster, she could feel her breathing increase. _Here it goes!_

Elena opened the door and was greeted by Stefan's green vibrant eyes and that shy smile that made her heart flutter every time she saw it.

"Hi" he whispered almost uncertainly as his eyebrows arched and he gauged her reaction. Elena tried her best to pull a smile that seemed genuine but it quickly faded and she was biting her lip, wishing she didn't feel so vulnerable around him. She couldn't hide how she felt around him and that was alien to her.

"Stefan, listen..." she took a deep breath before continuing.

"Elena, I'm so sorry about what happened yesterday" he shook his head and reached for her hand and Elena's breath caught in her throat as her heart was fluttering again.

"I should never have spoken to you that way yesterday, all those things are...complicated" he tried to catch her eyes as his fingers intertwined with hers.

"Stefan, why did your uncle call you 'Uncle Stefan'?" Stefan shuffled on his feet before, reaching for her face and caressing her cheek with his thumb. Oh how he could soothe her so easily, she would give anything to have that hand only for her.

"My uncle was...confused...it's all in the past Elena, I know it's not much of an answer, but please trust me" he kissed the hand he was holding tenderly and watched her with weary eyes. "Can you do that for me?"

Elena wanted to know the rest, Elena wanted to say tell me now, or tell me something so I can understand you, but she decided to trust him, to give them time. "Yes" she whispered while nodding and leaning into his hand.

"Good" Stefan half laughed and half let out a suppressed sigh.

And cautiously Stefan stepped towards her to press a chaste kiss to her lips, and Elena melted into it, tender lips pressed and began to coax her mouth open. It was impossible how everything seemed to disappear when he was kissing her, and it lingered, until their breathing changed and it was all hands and muffled moans. But soon steps in the near distance reminded them they were not alone and before Miranda turned the corner of the living room, Stefan managed to take a step back and resume his composure immediately while Elena was left breathless behind him.

"Stefan" Miranda greeted

"So good to see you" Miranda held out her arms for him.

"Are you ok honey?" Miranda asked and Elena nodded frantically trying to hide her sudden light headedness, Elena cleared her throat.

"Ehhmm yes mom"

Miranda gave her a questioning look before guiding Stefan to the back garden.

"We have to behave ourselves tonight" Elena whispered as she smirked at Stefan lick his lips and watch the coy smile appear on his lips

"I can do that" Stefan bit his lip as he gazed at her, "so long as I get to sit beside you" he whispered low into her ear and Elena shivered.

* * *

Dinner had passed easily, uncle john went on and on about a new business venture he was thinking of perusing in Mystic falls. Everybody pretended to be interested, but Grayson just joked as he was grilling some of the chicken in the garden.

When they finally all sat down and began to eat, Elena could feel Stefan's hand touch hers under the table, and she linked her fingers with his, trying not to smirk as her mom set out the plates.

"So Stefan, where did you move from?" John asked as he sat down.

"Chicago" Stefan replied simply.

"ah..." uncle john took a swig of his beer as he narrowed his eyes at Stefan, Elena squeezed Stefan's hand.

"You do you know your name...Salvatore runs very deep in mystic falls heritage" uncle john commented as Stefan let go of Elena's hand and leaned his elbows on the table.

"Yes, I am aware that the Salvatore's were one of the founders Mr. Grayson" uncle john chuckled lowly while serving himself salad.

"Yes until Giuseppe Salvatore I believe" Elena looked at Stefan, his jaw had tightened and his mouth set into a straight line.

"Okay okay" Miranda interrupted as they sat and began to eat "enough heritage stories" Elena was relieved, uncle john had a way of rubbing people up the wrong way and she wondered why he had targeted Stefan. But she wasn't surprised in the least; John was just like that with people in general.

* * *

"Well that wasn't as bad as I expected it to be" Elena said as she cleared up the dishes with Stefan in the garden.

"Your family is really nice Elena" Stefan was helping gather up the remaining glasses and cutlery as the rest of the family washed up inside.

"What about your family?" Elena asked as she noticed he had hardly spoken about them all evening, but maybe it was because he was concentrating on playing footsie with her under the table for the majority of the evening. Her lips curled upward at the memory.

"Ehm they passed away a long time ago" Elena stopped what she was doing when what he had said registered with her.

"Oh Stefan" she put down the plates and cutlery she was gathering and walked over to him.

"I'm so sorry" Stefan smiled and nodded "it was a long time ago" he nearly whispered.

"I'll always be grateful for what you did for me" she thought about the night at the bridge, about how he was miraculously there for _her _family. Subconsciously she reached for his hand, and it scared her when she realised how close they had gotten. Thankfully the sun had gone down and the garden was dark enough so none of the Gilberts could pry easily from the window.

"You don't need to thank me Elena, it brought me to you" and they didn't know how they got there, nearly swaying with each other to an invisible song, forgetting the world around them. Miranda, Grayson, Jeremy even John didn't matter as their noses grazed. It was so automatic to move closer, but still so fresh and new. Stefan noticed it before Elena did, as her lips parted and her breathing began to falter.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Stefan asked.

"Nothing" his smile got wider.

"May I accompany you to the movies Mrs. Gilbert?"

"It would be an honour Mr. Salvatore"


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry about the lateness, just wasnt happy with it yesterday :/ Next update will be Tuesday at the latest, please leave reviews, they help :)**

* * *

Elena pushed open the door to her father's study; the light trickling through on the way to the bathroom caught her attention. Her father never really used that room anymore; it was left for storage, his books, certificates and a pull out couch for an extra guest on occasion.

The room was musky, and held a scent of dust and old unused furniture; it was clear in comparison to all the other rooms in the house that this one was used the least.

"Hey dad" Elena peaked in the door way as Grayson reached for a box under a mound of books and papers. As he twisted to answer her voice he knocked over some small boxes resting on a shelf and grunted a small curse under his breath. Elena giggled and made her way over to him, holding her hands out to take the box from him as he shimmied through the make shift path he had created towards the stored boxes.

"This room huh!" Grayson exclaimed and Elena nodded swiping her finger on the window sill to wipe away an inch of dust.

"Dad, this is the only room mom doesn't have reign on...and well..." she paused to put a hand over her mouth to stop her smile. It really was the only room in the house that Miranda kept her nose out of, and Grayson was awful at keeping things organised. He was a hoarder, he kept receipts and useless presents from years ago, along with broken Christmas tree stands which had been replaced and tools that were bent out of shape and completely unsalvageable. But Elena loved him for it, he still had some of preschool pictures hanging around the room that she had drawn for him, father's day cards, birthday cards, hell he probably had every single thing she had ever given him in this room. Elena's heart warmed at the thought, this room was his, and it was a disaster, but it was still a little piece of him.

"Well what..?" Grayson reached over to tickle her and Elena squirmed into a fit of laughter.

"I'm...sorry" Elena squealed under her breath as Grayson lifted her into a hug.

"You're right" he said as he held her tightly and Elena hugged his arms closer. It was moments like these she loved, her father was often busy with work or chores around the house, but he always had time for her.

"Your mom does have a magic touch doesn't she?" he chuckled again, releasing Elena and placing his hands on his hips as he shook his head disapprovingly "she doesn't even want to look in this room"

Grayson stepped over to the box he had salvaged and started searching, picking up an old candle stick holder, a cigarette box and containers with papers that seemed like they were tea stained and ancient.

"What are you looking for?" Elena asked as she sat on her heels and pawed through some of the objects in the box.

"Uncle John is looking for some sort of journal, I'm not sure if I have it but he is insisting I do..."

After a few minutes of looking through the box, Grayson sighed in resignation and began placing everything back as best he could.

"I'm going out with Stefan tonight" Elena blurted out almost impulsively. He was going to find out from Miranda either way, it wasn't that Grayson was strict, but whenever she was upset or grumpy, the first conclusion Grayson jumped to was 'a boy'. Thus opening up about a relationship with Grayson was sometimes uncomfortable, so the majority of the time Elena opted for Miranda's advice.

"Oh?" Grayson continued tidying around him, seemingly unaffected by what Elena had just said.

"Were going to the movies" Elena trailed off.

"Elena" Grayson turned to her, and opened his mouth only to close it again, he seemed hesitant about something. And Elena tilted her head waiting for him to continue. Grayson fidgeted with some papers in his hand, it wasn't like him to be so indecisive with her and Elena felt an odd sense of insecurity as she watched him crease his brow.

"What dad?" Elena asked impatiently and reached for his hand when Grayson still didn't reply, he looked as though he was distracted, worried, something was definitely on his mind. Finally he looked up and smiled at her, but still his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Just be careful Elena" she nodded, slightly concerned about his mood, but then chalked it up to 'growing pains' on his part. _This might be him accepting that you're nearly 18 Elena! _ She thought to herself, but the un settled feeling wouldn't leave her stomach.

Grayson rose to his feet, squeezing her hand in the process, "Thanks dad" Elena nearly whispered, finding it hard to find her voice.

"Dad are you ok?" Elena asked.

"Yes, yes. I'll be back in a minute, honey" Grayson kissed her cheek and left the room leaving Elena with the clutter of objects and old antiques that were pulled from the box.

Elena shifted looking around the room until a box caught her eye labelled 'Photos', she pulled it closer and found stacks of old albums and unsorted picture pockets from years ago. Photo's of Miranda and Jenna at prom, Grayson graduating college, Jeremy as a baby, the lake house. Elena couldn't stop smiling to herself, the memories, how much they had all grown, how happy Grayson and Miranda still were after all the years together.

Elena rummaged deeper into the box looking for embarrassing pictures of her and bonnie as children so she could torture her about it at school on Monday. She giggled to herself knowing there were a few stragglers of Bonnie's 'Goth' phase and Elena's spice girl obsession. A book peaked out at her from the bottom of the box, the corners were worn and the covering was flaky and faded.

Elena flicked through the pages, carefully pulling them apart as they swelled together and struggled to keep within its bindings.

_June 1864, it has been considerably cold today, the ice has begun to set and the snow will be coming soon. But as the weather changes so has the feeling of change diluted among the people of mystic falls, many hide from the night, fearing the demons that conceal them. _

Elena read on, feeling dread in the pit of her stomach. This old journal, could this be what Uncle John was looking for?

_Another body found today drained of blood; it is becoming increasingly difficult to approach the beautiful lady Pearl and the new guest in the Salvatore mansion Katherine Pierce. Although when I met Giuseppe Salvatore this evening, I saw the scepticism in their eyes when I showed them the compass._

Elena bit her lip recognising the name, _Giuseppe Salvatore, _Stefan's dad?_ Katherine Pierce, _the woman from Stefan's journal_. _Elena read on frantically, remembering the night of the crash, Stefan's wrist at her mouth. The inexplicable change in his features after the Tyler's party.

_I ran for so long, there was no escaping it, his eyes were black pools, demonic, veins that creased his normal features into a monster. I knew I was about to die. You cannot run from a vampire. I saw the vampire who killed me, I recognised him. It was Stefan Salvatore._

Elena swallowed hard on the lump in her throat and felt her stomach twist into a huge knot. It can't be, it shouldn't be. But It all made sense, she would be a fool not to make the connection, it all added up, but it shouldn't, Stefan's uncle called him 'Uncle Stefan' at the boarding house. The night at the bridge, how had no one questioned how Stefan just happened to be walking wickory bridge in the middle of the night. How his face changed so suddenly in front of her. What was happening? Was she going crazy? Was Stefan really who she thought he was, a young high school student who just moved from Chicago? Or the latter, that word didn't want to say, didn't want to think because it was crazy. But she had to know, she just had to.

* * *

Elena threw on her jacket, she didn't even bother to change out of her sweat pants, she jumped into her mom's car and grabbed on to the steering wheel before shifting into drive. She bit her lip looking at the journal on the passenger seat, trying to gather her thoughts, but she couldn't, they were all scrambled up in her brain, everything was pointing to an answer that didn't make any sense about him. But could it all be coincidence. _Is this really happening at all? Is this a nightmare she's about to wake up from? _ Because it certainly felt like it

She drove out of the drive way and turned up the stereo as loud as she could to block out her thoughts.

_It's not true, it can't be? Can something like that actually be true? _She couldn't see him tonight and not know; actually she couldn't wait the rest of the afternoon without knowing the truth.

Outside the Salvatore boarding house Elena's heart was pounding, she had gotten there in no time at all, her breath was trembling and her hands were shaking. After another second, she grabbed the journal and walked to the front door, she pounded it as hard as she could hurting her fist in the process and paced the porch as she waited, pulling the hair out of her face walking in circles restlessly skipping back and forth.

And finally the door opened and Stefan walked out, his face was awash with concern and he immediately noticed the journal in her hand, the recognition in his eyes hit Elena's gut like a sword. Elena stopped, breathless at the sight of him; her heart nearly plummeted when she saw the guilt riddled in his face, like the book she had just read, she could read him like the words of Jonathan Gilbert himself. And the shock that appeared in his eyes when he swallowed hard at the sight of her told her that she wasn't crazy, there was something not right here in the least.

"Stefan. What are you?" Elena burst out noticing how harsh her words had slipped out.

"Elena please" Stefan walked towards her and she took a step back.

"What. Are. You?" Elena dropped the book in front of him, he knew what it was, she could tell. But still he bent to pick it up, smoothing over the hard cover that had protected it all these years.

"Elena listen to me; please don't be afraid of me"

"Stefan. Please I need to hear you say it so I don't feel crazy about all the things that have been happening around here!" Stefan stepped back, resigned to this inevitability, it was clear by the way he looked at her, like he had been broken all this time anyway for just not coming clean. He looked into her eyes already filling with tears as she watched him slowly suck in a breath and hold it longer than she had ever waited for anything in her life. How was it that she already knew without him having to tell her, how was it that after this short amount of time that she could hear his thoughts, feels his pain, his internal struggle to be here with her even now?

"I'm" Stefan's voice broke and he blinked hard.

"I'm a vampire Elena" those words were clear, crisp, like a harsh breeze knocking her knee's over. She was expecting it, but still as soon as the words were said, Elena's face dropped, she had suspected it, but hearing it come from his mouth hit her in the pit of her stomach and suddenly she felt ill. Fear, complete and utter fight or flight mode kicked within her and Elena nearly tripped up over herself as she turned to leave.

"This was a mistake" Holding her stomach Elena dashed to the car, her vision beginning to get blurred as she struggled to find her keys under the barrage of tears threatening to consume her.

"No, Elena wait" and he was in front of her car door suddenly. No steps, he was just..._there!_

"Oh my god!" How did you...? You?" Elena stuttered and suddenly felt the urge to scream, what could he do to her? What was he capable of? Elena gasped and tried for the door handle and failed.

She turned again, making a run to the other side of the car, remembering the words from the journal she had read earlier.

'_I knew I was about to die. You cannot run from a vampire.'_

But as soon as she opened the door it was slammed shut again, Elena wasn't trapped but her body had stopped moving, she was so scared her body was not responding. And the tears fell down her eyes as she shook waiting for whatever he was going to do next.

"Please Elena" Stefan spoke softly

"Leave me alone Stefan" Elena wept against the car door, shaking as she tried to open the door again but failing.

"Elena please you can't tell anyone, please this is dangerous" Elena turned, still petrified but somehow finding the strength to look him in the eyes

"You...you killed people, you want to kill me" Stefan's brows creased.

"No. Elena please, I choose not to drink blood anymore, when Jonathan wrote that I had, I...was just different them elena" Stefans voice started to fade, he was breathing heavily watching her, knowing that there was nothing he could ever say to make this right. The only thing to do was to protect her.

"Please go Stefan" Elena tried again, hoping he could hear her.

"You can't tell anyone, it's dangerous Elena there are others who" there was urgency in his voice, but it was still soft, it was still touching her like it did yesterday when he kissed her. _No! He's a monster!_

"Who kill people?" Elena answered almost screaming now, inches away from his body.

"Yes" Stefan stepped back and Elena took the chance to get in the passenger side, before she could slam the door shut, Stefan caught it one more time.

"Elena, I promise you I will go and leave you alone forever, you just need to believe me when I say telling anyone is a mistake"

Elena stared at him from the perched open car door, she wanted to nod, but she couldn't, she wanted to look away but she couldn't. "Just go" she whispered.

Stefan nodded and took one last glance at her before he disappeared. Soft, weary eyes scanned her face as he let go of the car door.

"I never asked for this" he whispered, and suddenly he vanished, only a small sound of a small gust as evidence of his presence.


	10. Chapter 10

Was there any reason to go back? Elena rounded the bends of the road on auto pilot as she held back the ever insistent tears, her hands gripped the steering wheel, her teeth gritted as she finally slowed down and pulled into the side of the road. It was darker now, colder, the hum of the engine her only companion as she sniffed and sobbed into her hands. Her Stefan, the man she was falling for was a monster, a monster that killed her ancestor 150 years ago and many more innocent souls after that.

To not tell anyone would mean she was listening to him, justifying what he was, but why was this ever insisting feeling of yearning thrumming against her chest, this feeling of loss settling into the pit of her stomach? Never had she ever thought she could fall so hard and so fast with someone, of course she always dreamed of that ever consuming crazy cant-live-without-love. It was happening now, that heart aching feeling, but not in the way she imagined, just yesterday Elena would have done anything to take those soft tender lips and press them against hers, make him hers in every single way imaginable, ways that she had never even considered until he entered her life.

Elena took out her phone and searched through her phone book, first Bonnie's name appeared. Elena shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat, no not Bonnie, Bonnie would try to categorize Stefan as a witch or something. She scrolled further, Jenna? Elena bit her lip, Jenna wouldn't understand, actually Jenna would think she had gone completely insane. Scrolling back and forth she saw Caroline's number and remembered her and Damon's PDA in the parking lot, had she noticed anything abnormal about Damon? "Christ" Elena swore aloud, and threw the phone into the passenger seat. Her mind was too muddled up in what happened at the boarding house, the journal. God that journal! He still had it. Any proof of what he was had been documented in that journal and Elena never retrieved it before she left. Damn!

Finally taking in her surroundings she realised the sun was setting; she was on a lonely road outside mystic falls after leaving a very dangerous life altering situation. What about Damon she thought for a second, if she hadn't suspected Stefan would ever hurt her, what could she think of Damon. There was just something in his demeanour that had her pulse running fast, his shifting eyes and the primal swagger that he carried. Surely if Stefan was a spawn of the underworld so would his brother.

When Elena got home, she wanted to run to Grayson, tell her what she had read in the journal that he was looking for, tell him what Stefan was, she wanted him to fix everything that felt wrong inside her. She wanted him to take away all the badness that she had discovered and return to her comfortable bubble that she was so accustomed to. But when she opened the door to the living room and saw Miranda curled up into Grayson's side as she read the paper and he watched the game on the television, she realised she couldn't. Even if her father was aware of a supernatural side of the world, Elena didn't want him to be a part of it. She didn't want to put him into yet another situation that would meant his life his life would be in danger.

After checking in on Jeremy, still seated in front of his computer and typing so fast she nearly saw smoke appearing from the key board, she opened her door carefully. She looked in every nook and crevice to find only one thing, Jonathan Gilberts journal perched up from her comforter. She scanned it for a moment before looking at the window which was unlocked. She walked over quickly to shut it, breathing heavily from the thought of Stefan in her room. How the hell did he get in here? Had he been here before?

Elena sank to the ground feeling a complete meltdown coming on, holding her knees to her chest; she closed her eyes and let the tears fall. Elena sobbed quietly by herself next to her window sill for what seemed like hours until she heard a knock on the door.

"Elena honey what's going on?" Elena barely flinched when she heard her mother come in; Miranda barely broke her from her reverie. Miranda settled herself beside Elena and pulled her into her arms. "Hey" Miranda rocked her, it was strange, as much as Elena wanted to admit she was all grown up and independent, she still needed Miranda more than anything.

"Did your date not go well?" Miranda asked after a few moments. Elena glanced at the Journal still sitting on her bed and hoped Miranda wouldn't notice it. The decision to tell the people that she loved the most was still rattling around in her thoughts, would they be safe? Would they be any safer with them knowing? What would Stefan do? What would Grayson do? She didn't want to think about any of it.

Elena made a sardonic laugh "You could say that" she mumbled as she wiped her nose with her sleeve. She could feel her eyes puffing up from the crying, her tears had soaked Miranda's shirt and her head felt blocked from her outburst of tears.

"He just...lied to me about everything mom" it was the truth, why couldn't he have just told her? Even then she would have found it hard to believe it, but her feelings for him had not subsided even now, which made the sting of betrayal even worse.

"Did he say why?" Miranda asked and Elena shook her head no.

"Then maybe he was scared honey, maybe he thought, this beautiful girl will never look at me if she knows the truth" Miranda leaned down to look her in the eyes.

She flicked a tear away from Elena's cheek and giggled. "What?" Elena asked, agitated that her mother was not taking her seriously. Elena opened her mouth to tell Miranda everything, it was the only thing she could think to do, but she was cut off suddenly.

"Your father lied to me when we first met you know..?" Elena looked up at Miranda who had a grin from ear to ear; she giggled and leaned her head against Elena's.

"He told me he was a stunt driver and that he would take me out for a spin in his dad's Cadillac"

Elena giggle "Oh god" Elena knew her father was mad about his cars, but she never would have thought he would up himself like that to impress her mom.

"What happened then?" Elena asked biting her lip at the thought of her dad lying to get her mother's attention.

"Well he picked me up in his father's old vintage Cadillac and got _some_ hiding when his dad found us at the drive through ordering food" Miranda laughed.

"Your dad went so red Elena" Miranda brushed another hair from her face.

"The point I'm trying to make is, sometimes people find it hard to tell the truth, because there so afraid of what people will think, how they will react, if they will accept them for who they really are" Miranda smiled bitterly.

"I didn't care that your father was flipping burgers all summer to save for med school, I didn't care that he was still living at home to save money for college, I just loved...him" Elena nodded, she understood why her father might have been scared to talk to her mom, she was after all miss mystic falls of her time, a very beautiful young lady that was definitely a catch when she was younger.

"Talk to him honey, if you like him that much it might be easier than it seems"

Miranda stood and gave her a knowing smile before she left the room.

Elena rose and went to the bed to begin reading some of the Gilbert journal, she could hear d the doorbell ring, and heard Miranda's footsteps towards the door.

Elena turned another page of the journal and felt a breeze on her shoulders, as she turned she saw Stefan standing beside her and jumped so much she fell off the bed.

"Elena im sorry I-"

Stefan stopped, looking up and furrowing his brows as though he was listening to something important. Elena jumped to her feet and raced for the door breathing heavily from the his sudden presence in her room, who he was. Was he here to...kill her? Stefan was beside her in an instant.

"Elena please you have to listen to me" Elena turned to him, somehow, even with the strange occurrence of him appearing in her room, she could calm herself.

"Elena, Damon knows about the Gilbert journal. Listen to me, it's very important that you DONT invite him in"

"Why?" Elena's voice sounded like a cry as she tried to shush her breathing knowing Jeremy was in the room next to them.

"Because if he comes in here he will take that journal" Stefan motioned to the journal sprawled on the ground.

"There's information in there that he cannot see, do you understand me?" Elena nodded

"You need to go now" Stefan opened the door and Elena complied. Before she walked away Stefan took her hand a placed something inside her palm.

"Hold this, I'll explain later" Elena looked at her hand, it was a small twig with some dried green leaves in it, she could smell it already as she held it, the odour was a strong, it smelled like a herb, not as soft as lavender but more like a rosemary.

Elena squeezed the plant in her hand and ran down the stairs. She could see Damon through the open door talking to Miranda. Elena's heart was in her mouth, what do I say to get him to leave? Miranda seemed to be under Damon's charm, by the time Elena reached the end of the stairs she could hear her mother laughing with him.

"No, no he's not here I'm afraid, but I will ask-" Elena touched Miranda's shoulder and interrupted her mid sentence.

"Oh Elena there you are, this is Stefan's brother Dam-"

" I know" Elena cut in and stared at Damon. He was wearing nearly the same clothes as last time, black fitted jeans, leather Jacket. Only this time his shirt was grey and open just enough to see his defined chest muscles. When she met his eyes, his cocky smile made her stomach flip.

"Elena, I believe you have a..." he trailed off giving Miranda a sly smile before continuing, he was smooth she would give him that "book that Stefan needs to school"

Miranda turned to look at Elena "No" Elena shook her head sticking to her guns and staring Damon down as she held the door beside her, wishing she could just slam it in his face right there and then.

"Are you sure? Stefan said he needs it to finish his report" He stepped closer ever so gently, Elena could feel her pulse getting stronger, she could see his pupils dilate, his eyes getting wider.

"Why don't you invite me in and ill help you find it" he nearly whispered to her, his face a few inches from hers, Elena swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"Tell Stefan, if he wants his Biology book he can get it himself."

Damon frowned in confusion and looked at Miranda who looked just as perplexed as he did, Miranda shrugged at him before Elena slammed the door in his face.

"Elena that was very rude" Miranda opened the door again, but Damon had gone, she sniffed before closing the door again.

"I'm sorry mom, you just...have to trust me, don't let him in here, he's a...a.. sleaze ok" Elena mumbled as she made her way up the stairs. She hoped Stefan would still be there, god, knowing he was in her room waiting for her made her body warm again. How did he have that affect on her? Maybe they could work through this, she couldn't see how they ever could, is there any way a vampire can even be with a human? The only references she could think of was some of the romances she read or the films she saw. But they seemed unrealistic. This was for real, Stefan killed people. Did he want to kill her? Was this part of his plan? Get a good taste of her lust before he killed her, is that part of his game? Because if it was he was damn good at it. But then why would he still be here?

Elena opened the door to her room, Stefan stepped out from behind the door and Elena jumped.

"Oh my god" Elena gasped in horror. Would she have to get used to this too?

"I'm sorry" Stefan pulled her aside and closed the door.

"You did really good, thank you" Elena was still out of breath, but her eyes met him, she forgot for a second, what he was, what he really was.

That aching pain returned and Elena broke from their locked gaze. She remembered why it hurt to look away, because she could probably never look into those beautiful eyes ever again.

"Stefan" she looked down at her hand that was clamped shut and sweating from her death grip.

"It's called vurvain" he answered quietly.

"It protects you from.." Stefan took a breath "Protects you from us"

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" Elena blurted out, she needed to know if she was part of some sick game.

"What?" Stefan whispered.

"The journal it said, it said that, that you" Elena stumbled holding back tears.

Stefan held her shoulders and crouched down to her eye level. "Elena listen to me, I choose not to be that way anymore, I don't drink from humans that's not how I used to survive" Stefan's voice sounded desperate, there was so much to say, too much he needed to confess about how he felt for her, about himself, about who he was.

"And Damon?" she asked cautiously.

"He's dangerous Elena, you need to stay away from him" Stefan's hands were at her face now, his eyes bearing into hers, saddened, she could tell by the shade of green. She could tell, they weren't as bright as the last time he kissed her or held her hand. They were now dark forests of distress, a storm falling over a mound of tree's. Elena wanted to kiss them, wanted to kiss his pain away.

Elena shook her head almost to remind herself not to. "I would never hurt you Elena, please don't..." Stefan's voice broke off.

"I will do everything in my power to make sure your going to be alright, that your family will be alright" Stefan rubbed her arms now reassuringly. Elena believed him, god she was under his spell, how could she not believe him when he held her tightly, so assuringly that she forgot where she was and who he was. Right now as she leaned her head on his chest, he was her protector, when he most likely shouldn't be. How would she ever say no to him, she wanted to know him, understand him, every last bit of him and why he was this way. Like Miranda did with her father, she could find a way to accept the lies. Find a way to accept who he was somehow, if she could feel like this with him, if she could make him feel like she made him feel, how could they ever be wrong together.

Before Elena knew it Stefan had released her, he placed a chaste kiss on her temple and Elena melted into the simple embrace. "Im sorry about everything" he whispered and just like that, he was gone again.


	11. Chapter 11

"Seriously Car I'm fine" she hadn't been, but disguising that from Caroline was difficult. No amount of makeup could hide the bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep she had gotten last night; she couldn't hide her reddened eyes in class behind sun wear, but thankfully the tears seemed to have fun out. And certainly no amount of caffeine was going to perk her up to match the eccentric persona that Caroline so effortlessly carried throughout the day.

She really envied her, no matter what was going on in her life, Caroline Forbes was always able to pull it together for school, head of the cheerleading squad never seemed to daunt her or the any of the other amounts of societies and picket rally's she volunteered for. Caroline was most _definitely_ headed for success.

"Well let's go to your house and talk boys, I know I have lots to say about _my_ Salvatore!" she exclaimed bringing her fingers to her lips and bouncing her eyebrows up and down suggestively. Elena's heart sank, Damon! He was still there, with..._her!? _For what? Elena felt the sudden urge to shake Caroline and tell her to never see Damon again, but thought better of it and decided to invite her in for some probing and chats. Maybe she could talk some sense into her somehow.

"Yeah sure" Elena smiled as widely as she could but she knew it didn't reach her eyes. She knew in the pit of her stomach that Stefan would never let anything happen to Caroline, but was it always going to be like this? Looking over her shoulder to see if a vampire was going to suck her and everyone she cared for dry? Was she always going to miss _him?_ As much as she tried to bury herself in school work today, it seemed like every spare moment she had to herself, her thoughts always trailed back to Stefan. Distractions were good, but it only seemed to pause the inevitable feeling of loss that retuned every time she thought of him.

_Oh Stefan, can we do this?_

Caroline followed Elena inside, striding across the hallway to the kitchen and making herself at home. Once her bag was dumped on the kitchen island Caroline leaned on her elbows and made a devilish grin as she checked her phone and began texting at a furious rate.

"So how's Stefan?" Caroline mumbled, her focus still on the pending message.

Elena sighed as she swung out of the fridge door. _Please let there be ice cream!_

"It's...complicated" she mumbled, rolling her eyes. _Yeah complicated, I was dating a VAMPIRE! So. Are. You!_

"I don't like secrets" that stopped Caroline in her texting tracks, and she turned to grab the bottle of water Elena was handing her. Elena caught a glance at Caroline and noticed something different about her; she too was very pale today, actually very pale. Elena hadn't been very observant of anything at all today, but looking at Caroline now, something was definitely different.

"Uh...yeah me too" Caroline, was not giving her the same exuberant attention she usually did when they had 'girl talk' she seemed so focused on her phone, Elena wanted to know what the hell she was doing that was taking so long.

"Car are you ok?" it took a few seconds for Caroline to register that Elena has asked her something before she blinked quickly and turned to Elena.

"Yeah," she shook her head, almost trying to focus back on the situation at hand. As her curls flittered around her shoulders Elena noticed a bruise under her ear. On any other occasion Elena wouldn't have been looking or even analyzing, but with Damon and Vampires and vervain and just _everything_ that had been going on lately-

"What's that?" Elena reached for her scarf and almost succeeded on tugging the loose end before Caroline jumped out of the way laughing hysterically and taking two involuntary steps back and placing a shaky hand on her neck.

"Oh!" more laughter "that?" Caroline dropped a hip and swung her hand in the air. _Who...are you?_

"Just a hickey, you know?" Caroline being uneasy and stumbling on her words only meant one thing. _Liar_.

"That didn't look like a hickey Car" Elena's blood boiled from the thought that Damon touched her in any way. Touched her to get to that stupid journal. Elena watched her in confusion, until Caroline sniffed.

"God, what's up your ass today?" Caroline snapped and Elena winced at Caroline's remark. _This isn't Caroline, this isn't Caroline_. Elena tried to remind herself. She raised her head and stared her down until there was a deep silence between them. Elena could see Caroline falter, she knew with everything inside her there was something up. There had to be, she had never seen her act this way before.

"I need to use the bathroom" Caroline pushed passed Elena, her hand still gripped tightly at her scarf and made her way upstairs.

Elena pulled her phone out from her pocked and texted Stefan.

**Can you come over? Caroline is acting weird...**

Elena set the phone down, and played with the rim of her glass before she heard a thump from upstairs. _The journal!_

Elena ran up, taking each step one at a time before running into a frantic Caroline shoving something in her bag.

"What are you doing Caroline?" Elena couldn't believe how strong her voice sounded for someone who was completely startled by her friend's erratic behaviour.

"Nothing, I-" Elena snatched the bag from Caroline's grasp and saw the red jaded leather of her great uncles journal.

"Caroline that's mine!" Elena said softly trying to pull Caroline out of whatever fantasy or weird twilight zone she had entered, how did she know where it was? She had hidden it behind her picture frame mounted over her bed. Only one soul knew about that hiding place, Bonnie.

Elena reached for the book again and saw the tears fall from Caroline's eyes as she backed away from her reach. "Elena please I have to" Elena shook her head looking at her friend breaking to pieces in front of her, Caroline's lip trembled and her breath was hurried as she had some sort of internal struggle with herself.

"Have to what Caroline?" Elena asked softly as she reached for her scarf again grasping the opportunity while Caroline closed her eyes momentarily._ Oh. God!_

Caroline was screaming now as she backed away from Elena. Elena felt like getting sick, if this was any confirmation that this whole mess was true, that all of these supernatural unveiling's were just as dangerous as she suspected. This was it.

Black and blue bruises engulfed bite marks as deep as any wounds Elena had even seen before were raw and painfully obvious on her best friend's neck. And there wasn't just one, there were at least three; her friend was a walking snack for Damon Salvatore. _Jesus!_

Elena stood frozen as Caroline pushed passed her and ran from the house, nearly tripping on the last step and stumbling through the threshold.

"Shit" Stefan looked at his phone fearing the worst; he knew Damon would go to any lengths to get that journal from Elena. He knew somehow he would find a way to get inside that house. There was only so much Stefan could do, and it seemed staying away from Elena was not the answer at the moment, not when Damon was so adamant on opening that tomb which held his worst fear. _Katherine Pierce_.

So many secrets, so much hurt. He thanked the good heavens he was hunting near Elena's house when he received her message because he could just about make the sprint to her house in about 5minutes.

What was he thinking leaving her unwatched while Damon was here and hell bent on destroying anything that made him happy? But he needed to feed or nothing would be protecting Elena at the moment. _Think of her Stefan_ he recited to himself. _Think of Elena._

When he finally made the dash to her house, he could already hear her, the door was open and he realised he was out of breath, he hadn't been in a long time, and he hadn't needed to use his speed in a long time. He searched frantically following her breathing towards the front of the house and it broke his heart to pieces, stepping inside her house and hearing nothing but sobbing coming from the stairs. This was something he vowed to himself to never let happen, but low and behold the one thing that had made him happy in over a century, the beacon of hope he had been mindlessly following these past few weeks was hurt. By him.

This girl that had captured his heart like no one else ever had, the one who brought him back to society, to openly talk with humans, without even knowing how or why, was now in pieces on her stairs because of him.

"Elena" he breathed and walked carefully up the stairs before reaching for her elbow and pulling her into his arms.

"Stefan" she sobbed into his chest as he lifted her into his embrace and engulfed her with as much as he could bear without crushing her. And god he missed her, her smell, her skin, her soft hair.

"Elena" he whispered in her ear as he lifted her to sit on the bottom of her stairs and holding on to this moment for as long as he could before he had to let go.

"Elena, I'm going to fix this I promise" Elena's tear stained face looked up at him with so much sadness as she fisted his shirt. She seemed to calm as her staggered breathing faded, he couldn't read the emotion on her face, and she seemed relieved, thankful as she sniffed into her sleeve before speaking.

"She took the journal Stefan I...I don't know how she found it, I hid it and I saw it before she left-"

Elena's tears returned and her voice came out broken and tortured once again "Stefan, I saw the bite marks on her neck" she cried.

"I'm going to fix it Elena I promise" Elena nodded frantically, as he rubbed his thumb over her face and stoked her back.

He could have stayed with her there all night but they needed to act fast, he knew for a fact that Damon already had that journal, now he needed to make sure Caroline didn't die as a result of Damon's sabotage towards him.

Holding both her shoulders, Stefan faced Elena and tried his best not to scare her.

"Elena first of all you need to know that that _wasn't_ Caroline, she was compelled" Elena nodded.

"Yeah...I...I thought something was off and, is that?"

"We have the power to compel humans to do things Elena. It's not her fault Elena. I'm going to find Caroline and bring her back to her house; I need you to go there and we're going to give her vervain. That will keep Damon from playing with her until I can find another way to...deal with him"

Elena nodded, "okay" coming out in a whisper.

"Don't worry" Stefan whispered before he bolted off towards the boarding house where he hoped Caroline was still alive.

* * *

Stefan pushed the doorway into the boarding house trying to shake the eerie feeling from him and everything this house standed for.

He could hear heaving breathing coming from the other room. _Christ. _At least she was still alive; Elena would never be okay if her best friend died of this. Never.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw what he expected, Damon feeding off a terrified Caroline and smirking hauntingly at Stefan.

"Well brother, finally you can join me for dinner" Damon took another bite from Caroline and closed his eyes as he let the pleasure of feeding overwhelm him without any morsel of disdain.

"You have the journal, you're done, now give me Caroline Damon" Caroline looked as though she was hanging on by a thread as she dangled from Damon's grip.

"Why?" Damon taunted.

"Because I have a witch" Stefan declared cautiously. Bonnie would have to make a good enough reason for now, even without her permission, the important thing was to get Caroline home and alive.

Damon dropped Caroline to the ground with a large thump and approached Stefan with unhurried steps while wiping the excess blood from his mouth.

"At your disposal, but at a trade" Stefan gestured towards Caroline.

"Does she mean that much to you brother?" Damon asked smirking as he drew closer to Stefan.

"Elena? Does she make you tick?" he asked again. "Do you love her brother?" _Yes._

Stefan could feel the anger boiling up inside, it was hard to stay rational when Elena was involved. Of course he loved her, for reasons he couldn't explain, for being to cosmically and infinitely drawn to her. For her compassion, selflessness and innocence.

"Yes" he breathed. He saw something shift in Damon's eyes, something he hadn't seen in decades, he could hardly make it out.

"I will make it my mission to help you...in order to help her" Stefan said. Damon stood closely and glared. Testing him.

"Okay brother" Damon took one last look at Caroline before grunting and disappearing out the back entrance to the house.

Stefan released a breath when Damon left, that's all it took? There had to be more to what Damon was up to, or maybe he was just done with Caroline. Maybe he just wants Katherine and to go, maybe that morsel of humanity he detected for a few seconds today was something worth fighting for in Damon.


	12. Chapter 12

Just as Caroline's body hit the ground Stefan sped to her side, he wasn't quick enough to catch her body before it hit the ground but he did manage to soften the blow to her head with his arms as he propelled his body to hers. He held her gently, searching her eyes for any sign of life.

"Caroline" he urged while rocking her gently but a bit frantically from side to side.

"Hang in there Caroline" he whispered soothingly. This poor innocent girl, she was used because Stefan was careless with his actions. Because he chose to come back to this town and pursue something that would make him happy. But now, everything was ruined, it wasn't just Damon in his constant insistence and carelessness with bringing Katherine back, Stefan didn't trust himself anymore. He could already feel the tingle of hunger under his skin begging him to take a sip from Caroline's delicate neck.

_Please don't let her die._ He spoke these words to himself over and over again like a mantra, for himself, for his soul, for Elena.

And with that Stefan took a bite from his wrist and fed it to Caroline's mouth.

"Drink Caroline, you can do it, you're safe now" Stefan pressed his wrist to Caroline's mouth and hoped it wasn't too late, hoped she hadn't slipped away because he was weak, because he couldn't get to her fast enough.

Still nothing, he could hear her heartbeat barely murmur against her chest and Stefan began to panic, but then Caroline, with what seemed like her last shred of fight sucked weakly at Stefan's skin. And her face creased as the blood began to work from her tongue to her pours. Stefan never knew what this feeling was like, to have your body cleansed and healed with a potion. He only knew of his own body which he only considered a vessel, a vessel that would never let him die unless wood struck his heart, a vessel that would carry him through the ages with the shame he knew would never leave him.

"Shhhh, drink, keep drinking" Stefan lulled as he held her close while his exultation coursed through him and Stefan let out a pained laugh watching the colour return to Caroline's cheeks.

"Stefan?" he heard a low whisper come from behind him, if it wasn't for his formidable hearing he may not have heard it at all. Stefan's body froze as the realization of whose voice it was registered.

"Come Elena" he coaxed hearing her reluctant footsteps approach him, he could tell Elena was still shaken if not by her breathing, than by her worried lip that was clamped between her teeth.

"Caroline" she gasped watching her friend who looked as though she was still inches from life in Stefan's arms, when only a few minutes ago Caroline had been alive and well in her home.

"It's okay it's alright Elena" he hushed her, reaching for her hand; Elena quickly grabbed it as she muffled a sob into the sleeve of her jumper.

"She's ok I promise, she will be ok" Elena nodded and watched as Stefan removed his wrist and wiped it on his black jeans, when he reached for Caroline's legs to lift her she noticed it was almost healed.

Suddenly realization pricked her memory, Stefan's wrist at Wickory Bridge. Had she drank Stefan's blood too? Does his blood have magic healing powers? After this crazy week she would not doubt it, but all of these new pieces of information were becoming overwhelming and Elena felt light headed suddenly.

"Elena? Will you help me?" Stefan's calm voice broke Elena from her reverie.

"Yes" Elena's voice was shaky.

"Damon won't hurt Caroline any longer, I spoke with him. I'm going to keep her here until the blood passes through her system, she should be okay by morning" Elena tried to gather her wits as she followed Stefan from the stairs, studying his face as they walked. Stefan looked like he was furious with himself, he looked like he was on the brink of a meltdown as he held Caroline in his arms whom actually looked quite healthy now, and comfortable in Stefan's large arms carrying her like she weighed nothing at all.

"Is she?...how?" Elena motioned to Caroline and Stefan sighed.

"Our blood can heal humans, it has the power to heal wounds, even the ones inflicted by our kind" he hesitated on the last two words. Stefan turned for the door.

"She should stay here until the blood leaves her system, it's not safe for her to be alone right now"

"Why?" Elena asked.

"Because if she dies, she will come back...like me" Elena continued to follow him as this new information sunk in. So vampires are changed through the exchange of blood, but only if they are killed with the blood in their system. Sheish that's complicated.

Stefan continued walking up winding stairs to what seemed like the highest story in the boarding house, when he kicked open a door Stefan placed Caroline on a large king sized bed.

Elena stood in front of the bed admiring the room, it was open, bright, with lots of windows, there were many books, old parchments, scribbles of drawings on an old antique phone table. It was cosy, unlike the rest of the decor around the house.

Elena turned and was faced with a very pale, very worried looking Stefan. Even now in this crisis she wanted to straighten the lines the formed when he frowned. Still, she felt the urge to run her fingers through his hair and re assure him things would work out. Elena wondered how she had acquired all of this hope and compassion for a moment, but when she saw the look reflected in Stefan's eyes she saw that he brought that out in her somehow. She believed together, they would be good, and could do good.

"I know that I've asked so much of you already Elena, and please believe me when I say I am beyond sorry for ev-" Elena interrupted him as she quickly placed her arms tightly around his waist and her head snuggled into his chest.

"No Stefan please don't say that" Stefan's arms remained by his sides as Elena rubbed his back and lingered with her arms around his body for a long moment. Her hair was close; he could smell the lavender and kiwi radiating from her skin. She was sublime; having her so close was torture. Leaving was going to be the hardest thing he was going to do.

When she pulled away, Elena's breath was slightly out of place, her reaction to him was so foreign she blushed and looked at her feet.

"Could you" clear's throat "Could you ring Caroline's mother and say she is staying with you tonight?"

Stefan looked up to meet her eyes reluctantly "I will take care of the rest, it is best if Caroline doesn't remember what happened to her, it is too traumatic" Elena nodded.

"Sure ill ring her now, and ill ring my mom to say I'm staying in hers"

"What?" Stefan looked at her confused, wrinkling his nose slightly.

"I want to stay with her Stefan she's my friend, I won't make a peep, ill stay here and watch her with you"

"It's not that it's-" Stefan stopped abruptly not sure what to say. The prospect of spending more time with her, to listen to her sleep, on his bed. It would torture him to have her here.

"I mean, that's fine I understand" Stefan bowed his head.

A while later, Stefan returned with some herbal tea and placed it on the bed side table where Elena was seated next to a sleeping Caroline. Elena smiled before taking a sip from the raspberry flavoured tea.

"Thanks"

"It should take the edge off" Stefan spoke just above a whisper "You're probably still in shock" Stefan sighed deeply before shuffling next to his desk and leaned against it.

"Stefan-"

"Elena let me say this" he placed his own mug down and swiped his hand down his face "I have to leave" he said very quietly and looked up at her pain stricken eyes.

"Stefan liste-" Elena tried.

"If I hadn't come here this never would have happened" he hung his head and shook it in despair, what will she think of me now? Coward.

Elena got up from the bed and walked slowly up to Stefan

"No!" suddenly Elena was angry, she wanted to fight, she wanted to fight for what she felt was right and she knew deep down Stefan wasn't being fair to himself, he seemed to pull away when things got a little bumpy, she wouldn't let him do it. After everything, how could he think that? How could he regret ever coming back to Mystic Falls.

"Stefan" she closed the gap between them but Stefan refused to meet her eyes.

"Stefan" she placed her hands on either side of his jaw and turned his head to look into her eyes.

"If you hadn't come back, you wouldn't have saved me" she told him, as he voice shook and the lump in her throat got bigger.

"You wouldn't have saved my family, you wouldn't have saved _me. _What happened that day Stefan? Why did you give me your blood Stefan?" Stefan looked away immediately. This wasn't going to happen, he had to walk away from her, before Elena got hurt. Or worse, if Damon got to her.

"Stefan, tell me, I remember" she urged.

"It doesn't matter Elena, too much has happened because I'm here, too many people can get hurt"

"Stefan the only person that will get hurt if you leave is me!" Elena's voice broke on the last few words that were said much louder than she intended.

Suddenly both Stefan and Elena turned their heads at Caroline who was stirring on the bed. Stefan rushed over and placed his hand on her head.

"Caroline?" he whispered and her eye's flew open and panic set in, Caroline sat up and began breathing rapidly, her heart was pounding at a frantic rate and tears were beginning to spill down her eyes.

"Oh. My. god" Caroline breathed in between distressed pants.

"Shhhh" Stefan shushed her and laid her back down.

"Caroline look at me" Stefan sat in front of her and placed his hand on either side of her head "You are fine, you went to school and are staying in Elena's for the night, relax, breathe, you're safe"

Caroline still breathing heavily turned her eyes to Stefan as he spoke the words her body stilled.

"You're okay, you're tired, you are staying here with Elena, you are safe" and with that Caroline turned to Elena and nodded. A smile appearing on her lips.

"Elena hi" Caroline greeted with a large smile.

Elena held her tight as the relief washed over her, she hadn't noticed how her stomach was tied up in knots since she had gotten to Stefan's house and seen Caroline in between life and death. But now suddenly Elena felt ill about something else, Stefan was leaving.

After a few hours of sitting with Caroline and eating a delicious Carbonara that Stefan had dished up, Elena was lying beside a sleeping Caroline feeling very lonely and unresolved after an awkward evening.

Caroline was physically well again, but thought (since it was a girls night) that it was necessary to watch 'the notebook' and suggested playing truth or dare one too many times before she tired and went to bed. Stefan and Elena exchanged embarrassed looks from one to the other at the thought entertaining that idea and decided to humour her with the notebook but avoid any truth or dare situations.

Elena found it strange that Caroline was acting as though this was a normal slumber party. It was as though they were really in Caroline's drinking coco with bonnie and talking boys. But then again, she noticed Stefan speaking with her in _'that way' _whenever she asked a question. It was the compulsion, and Elena was grateful that Stefan was able to save Caroline from herself. If Caroline had a notion of what Damon really was and what he had really done to her, she would have run for the hills. But Elena knew, Stefan wasn't like Damon, Stefan would never hurt anyone. And the thought of Stefan leaving made something inside her feel sick.

Is this what love is? Is this what it feels like? This deep intense feeling when I see him, that attraction, this connection, it's just something I know I won't be able to ignore for much longer.

With that Elena crept out of the bed and made her way down the stairs, Elena walked with a certainty she had never felt before, courage she had never found with anything else. She needed to do something with this deep longing that was inside her. Looking at her phone, she hadn't realised how late it was, 3:40, crap! Do vampires even sleep?

Elena made her way through the dark house; all of the many windows around the house provided very little illumination for her to see where she was going.

As she entered the vast living room, she could see a figure in the dark sprawled out on the leather couch. She held her breath as she tip toed to him. Stefan looked angelic as he slept, one arm supporting his head and the other bent over his head just above his ruffled hair. She could see his pectorals, she could see his muscular arms protruding from his shirt. Stefan really was a marvel, a Greek god, from his golden brown hair to his flawless sallow skin and his lean muscular form.

He looked as though he was climbing a mountain in the way he was lying without any blanket or pillow to comfort him. Elena couldn't resist any longer, those arms; so inviting and so comforting, looked like they were made to hold her. She didn't want to deny it any more, didn't want to ignore that she wanted him. Dangerous or not, her mind was telling her to leave, but her heart warmed as she moved over to the couch and began lying beside him, there was plenty of room for two without having to touch but Elena scooted closer until her head was near his chest.

Stefan stirred and started before realising it was Elena. He sat up quickly and composed himself before looking down at her big brown sad eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked stroking her cheek with his thumb instinctively.

"I couldn't stay away" she whispered and Stefan's heart jumped, how pained she sounded just saying that to him.

How in the world was he going to leave Elena now? He loved her; there was no doubt about it. He loved her the moment he pulled her from the car wreck at Wickory Bridge, he loved her the moment her eye's met his as she held on to her precious life in the car. He loved her even when he knew he would probably never have her. When she probably would never love him back because of what he really was. Stefan had never been so torn in his life, he needed to keep Elena safe, even if it hurt her that he left. Stefan dropped his fore head to hers and closed his eyes.

"I know" he whispered sweetly and kissing her hair chastely before lying back and letting her head rest on his chest. He cradled her, one hand at the small of her back while the other held her head near his chest. Elena wound her arm around his waist, as they lied on their sides. Lost in each other's eyes for what seemed like hours. An understanding passing through them. _I can't stay away, but I know I have to._

Elena was going to say more, she wanted to tell him to stay, that she needed him, that they would find a way. But as the tears finally dried out, sleep overtook her, and the fuzziness of the day was beginning to close in as she found comfort in Stefan's arms, a profound comfort that she had never felt before. She snuggled closer to his chest and listened to him sigh in content as he ran his fingers through her hair with his lips pressed to her head.


End file.
